The Many Trials of the Soon to be Weds
by Aurora-Royale
Summary: I thought he'd hung up, but when I heard a crash, I knew he hadn't. "You broke the vase by the door again, didn't you?" Tales of all the sweet, funny, and akward moments before -and some after- Amu and Kukai get married...
1. The Ring

_Beep-beep_. The tone of my car and the flashing of its headlights signaled that it was unlocked. I swung my keys around my finger by their key-chain. Modern technology was amazing.

Hopping into the front seat of my midnight blue, 2011 Audi A5, I popped my keys into the ignition and cranked up the radio. A high-pitched, up-beat tune started playing, and the first word that came to mind was _Buono!, _the name of the band currently playing. It was some song called Take it Easy. I was going to change the station, but thought better of it. After all, this was Amu's favorite band, and if all went according to plan, I was going to have to get used to their singing. I decided to, like the name of the song, just take it easy.

After adjusting my mirrors and buckling up- safety first- I slowly pulled out of my parking space. Driving past several other cars, I exited my apartment's parking garage and hit the road. The streets weren't as backed up as usual, so I decided to have a little fun and pass the speed limit up by like- oh, ten or twenty mph. So much for safety. Don't freak out, I didn't kill anyone.

I drove into down town, girly music blasting, windows open, wind blowing in my face. Various shops and stores cruised by, each one bustling with costumers armed to the teeth with shopping bags and souvenirs. After all, this was Tokyo. Stores were never dead in Tokyo.

Excitement began coiling in my stomach as my destination grew closer. A red brick building with white awnings above every door crawled into view. Pulling into the parking lot of the building, I read the neon letters scrawled out above the building's roof: Asona's Accessories.

I stepped out of the car, clicking the 'lock' button and eliciting another beep-beep from it. Opening the front door of Asona's, I strode into the store, taking in the display case covered walls and elegant décor as a bell rang above my head, announcing my arrival.

As I approached the front counter, the man working it turned away from what he was doing to face me. He smiled. "Back again, Kukai?" he asked, his gold eyes gleaming.

"Yeah Nagi, I'm back," I said, smiling at him. "But this time, I actually know what I want." The purpled-haired attendant's smile widened. I had already been to this accessory store several times before, and by some miracle, Nagi has managed to put up with me each and every time. In fact, I've been here so often, I didn't even have to use my GPS to get here, not that I ever used it.

"Oh yeah? And what would that be, exactly?" he asked, one eyebrow rising higher than the other in curiosity. I grinned at him. Unzipping my jacket, I pulled a slip of paper from my inner left pocket. I unfolded the magazine cut-out and laid it down on the desk in front of Nagi. He studied the picture for a second and whistled.

"That would be this." I said. Nagi spun the picture around to face him. He pulled a pair of glasses from the pocket of his coat, putting them on. He looked at the picture more closely, taking in every detail as if it were the real thing.

"Size 5, please," I asked, staring at the picture, smiling. Nagi nodded, still gazing at it as well, before walking out from behind the counter.

"Could you wait a moment?" he asked, "I have to remember where that one is." He stopped and put his hand to his chin, thinking for a moment before uttering a quiet 'ah-hah' and striding over to a display case on the resting on the right wall of the room. I followed Nagi over as he drew a set of keys from his front coat pocket, the same one that held the glasses. Flipping through them, he came to a rest at medium sized key, and lowered it to the lock of the case. After shoving it into the opening, Nagi turned the key, a soft click soon following.

He slid the glass door of the case open, skimming his hand over rows of merchandise before coming to a stop in the center of the display.

He picked up a little silvery-colored ring and removed it from the case. "You got lucky. That's the last size 5 we have in stock right now," he said before giving it to me. I took the small, white gold ring in my hands, turning it over with my thumb and index finger. The heart-shaped diamond on the front gleamed, the alternating line of smaller diamonds and mystic topaz surrounding it providing a perfect accent. God, I sounded like such a girl.

I followed Nagi back up to the front desk and handed him the piece of jewelry. He started to ring up the price but stopped. "Did you want to pick out a box to go with it?"

I stared at him, open-mouthed. "Dude, it takes me over a month to pick out the ring, and now you're asking me asking me to find a box too?" I ask him. He just shrugs.

"Well, yeah. I mean, this is a very important event. You have to hav-"

"Nagi, it was a rhetorical question," I said, cutting him off. "You pick one out." Again, he shrugged. As I waited for him to find a suitable box for the ring, I barely noticed it when someone else walked into the room- that is at least, until they announced their arrival with a loud scoff.

"Back again, Mr. Souma?" the man asked. I turned to face him. It was Fujiku, Nagi's stuck-up, snob of a boss. I gave him a nonchalant wave.

"What's up, Fujiku? How have you been?" I asked, although I didn't really care. He huffed.

"That's _Mr_. Fujiku. And I was doing just fine, until you showed up." Ouch. That hurt… not really. "Looking around some more? Or did you actually come to buy something this time?" he asked, annoyed. I grinned at him, which only seemed to further irritate him.

"Yeah, I did actually," I replied, gesturing to Nagi, who had just finished placing my ring in a box. Guess he found one. He stuffed the box in a bag and continued ringing up my purchase.

"And your total is-"

"I don't even want to know!" I yelled with a hand up, effectively stopping him before he could tell me the price. I wanted to be out of the store before I knew the cost, so I wouldn't try to return the ring due to price-tag shock. "Just take my credit card and get it over with," I told him, handing over the square of plastic. Again, Fujiku snorted.

"How irresponsible. How is a bum like you even able to afford a ring like that?" he asked, looking me up and down. I guess he was associating my appearance with my wealth. I may have been a professional soccer player, but I still dressed like a bit of a street kid.

"Um, Mr. Fujiku… do you watch sports? At all?" Nagi asked. "Mr. Souma is kind of… world renowned you know…" he said a little less than matter-o-factly. Ah, Nagi. Always one to help.

"Renowned for what? Being a street bum? Wasting his money?" Fujiku said with a smirk. Now that made me angry. And considering I was rarely one to get upset, that was an accomplishment.

"Listen, pal, this isn't a waste of money!" I yelled at him. He could dis me, my clothes, or my brother for all I cared. But if he was suggesting I was wasting my money on Amu, he had another thing coming.

"This ring cost a lot. I wouldn't buy it for just anything. I'm paying for it, and if you won't take my money then that's fine with me!" Actually, it wasn't, 'cause if I didn't pay, then I wouldn't get the ring. But I was seriously pissed at Fujiku, and something needed to be said to a guy like him.

He gave me a stunned look before sticking his pointy nose up in the air and huffing again. "Mr. Fujisaki, give the man his purchase so he may leave." And without a backwards glance, he walked out the door he came in from.

I sighed and banged my head on a display glass.

"Nagi, I have absolutely positively no idea how you put up with him," I said. Nagi chuckled.

"He's the owner's son. Kinda have to." Although I had no clue as to how, it was true. Fujiku was Mrs. Asona's son. But they had, like, nothing in common! While Asona was probably one of the kindest, sweetest, funniest, most interesting old lady's you would ever meet, Fujiku was a bitter, snobby, humorless, jerk who lived off his mother's money. What could you do?

Pulling myself off of the case, I walked back up to the front desk, where Nagi handed me the bag. I smiled at him.

"Thanks, man," I said, and he smiled back.

"Now be careful with that Kukai," he told me. "Although Fujiku is wrong about a lot of things, he was right about that ring being expensive. And it's the last one we have. If you lose it, you're not getting another one for a while, if you even decide to do that." Nagi looked seriously concerned. He really was a nice guy. Then again, it could've just been that he knew how irresponsible I was…

Nonetheless, I gave him a reassuring nod and one of my signature, goofy smiles. "Don't worry, I will be." I started to turn and head for the door, but stopped. I looked back at Nagi, who was currently studying some piece of jewelry. When he noticed I hadn't left yet, he looked up. "What's wrong?"

I averted my eyes and looked down at the bag in my hands. "Nothing really. I was just wondering…" I didn't finish. The question almost seemed kind of odd.

"Wondering what?" he asked, lowering the necklace in his hands, curiosity etched into his voice.

Now, I may not have known Nagi for very long, but for the month that I had, he had been a pretty good guy. He was… a friend. Not just some store attendant anymore. So, odd or not, I had to ask him. "…Did you wanna come to the wedding?"

When I looked back at him, his mouth was hanging slightly open, his glasses falling down the bridge of his nose. Nagi cleared his throat and went back to studying his jewelry. He didn't answer for a few seconds.

"I don't know Kukai, I haven't even met the girl yet," he said, seeming particularly focused on one portion of the necklace's chain. I scoffed, sounding a little too much like Fujiku.

"Half my family hasn't met the girl yet. You'll be fine," I reassured him. He still looked a bit unsure. It was a wedding for Pete's sake! What was so bad about it?

"Kukai, I've only known you for a month," he protested. I groaned.

"And yet you're already a better friend to me than at least 75% of my entire team," I countered.

"Okay, now that's just sad," he said.

"Worse than half my family not knowing my girlfriend-hopefully-soon-to-be-fiancé? I don't think so."

"Touché."

I shoved my hands into my pockets. "Come on, Nagi. Please?" I gave him my best puppy-dog-sparkly-eyes face.

"Kukai, I'm not stupid, that's not going to work," Nagi said, but he looked unsure of himself. I kept it up.

"Please?" I blinked a couple of times, just for good measure. He slapped himself on the forehead.

"Alright, alright already, I'll go!" Nagi said, and I smiled to myself. I couldn't believe that worked. I guess Amu was rubbing off on me. It always worked when she did it. "…If she says yes that is." My smile faded.

"Aw, way to ruin the mood!" I said, and he laughed. I turned away from the desk and headed for the door. "Whatever!" Before I exited I looked back at him. "So you'll come, right?"

He sighed, and I was afraid he would change his mind, but he smiled up at me. "Yeah, I'll be there."

I punched the air happily. Strolling out the door, I began to whistle. I had the ring, I had the new friend, and soon-hopefully- I'd have the girl. I pulled the box from the plastic bag Nagi had put it in. It was a small, mahogany case with rounded edges and little swirly designs carved into its top. It looked like a good quality box.

…That reminded me. I still hadn't looked at the total cost of my purchase. I climbed into my car and started it up, pulling out of the Asona's Accessories' parking lot. Man, was it hot in that car. I rolled down the windows to let some air in.

Once I was on the road, I used my free hand- the one that wasn't on the wheel- to pull the receipt from the bag.

I struggled to hold both it and the box in my hand while driving. Carefully, I turned the slip of paper over…

…Eight thousand seven hundred and fifty five dollars…

_Eight thousand seven hundred and fifty five dollars!_

I nearly screamed. That… was a lot of money… maybe I should've looked at the receipt beforehand… _No, no. It's all for her, It's all for her. This is for Amu, It's all for her-_

_Plop!_ Something fell out my car window. My body went rigid. Slowly, I turned my head to look at my hand. My hand, which was now holding a receipt, and nothing more…

"OH MY GOD!" this time I really did scream. I slammed on my car's brakes, swerving out of control and nearly hitting the car in front of me. Luckily, there was no one behind me. I scrambled out of my car, leaving it sitting in the middle of the road while I tried to fix probably the biggest mistake I had ever made in my life! Okay, scratch the 'probably'. It was the biggest mistake I'd ever made in my life.

Where is it, where is it, where is it, where is it, where is it? Holy crap, where the heck could it be?

I ran up the street, desperately searching for the small mahogany box. "I didn't drop it that far back! Where the heck could it have-"

Sitting dead-center in the middle of the street, about fifty or so yards up the road, was my box. I ran for it like a maniac. But then again, if you couldn't call me one for nearly losing my girlfriend's engagement ring, then what could you call me?

As I dashed down the street, I silently prayed that a car wouldn't appear out of nowhere and crush the box- or me- before I got there. Of course that didn't happen.

When I was about thirty yards away, a truck turned onto the avenue and started heading straight for the ring. It just had to be a truck, didn't it? And not just some small, pickup truck. A full-blown, two ton, trailer-and-all truck. Great.

Frantic, I poured on the speed, and at this point, I was either feeling really confident, or really stupid. I couldn't tell which. But it didn't exactly matter, because I was still doing it. I was still running straight into what could very well be my death. Again, great.

My mind reeled. The truck was mere feet away, but so was I. In one crazy attempt, I jumped. Jumped right in front of the truck, jumped right on top of the ring. Grabbing it, I rolled out of the way as fast as I could, the truck- honking -missing me by just inches.

I slammed into the street curb, my momentum taking me farther than I had planned. For a second, I just laid there, thinking there was a very good possibility that I was dead. Then I realized the throbbing pain in my head, and knew that I wasn't

I opened my eyes, not recalling that I had closed them in the first place. Slowly, I looked down. I uncurled my fist, which had been wrapped so tightly around the box, my knuckles had turned white. But it was there. It was there, and not flattened under the wheel of some truck. I stood up and dusted my jeans off as if nothing had even happened. Yup, that's me. Nonchalance is my middle name…

Okay, really? I wasn't kidding anyone with that. That was the single most terrifying thing I had ever done in my entire life! I can't believe I wasn't bawling right then. And nonchalance? Please! I was freaking out!

When my initial fear factor moment was over, I checked to make sure no part of me was broken. Arms, legs, hips, nose, ribs, collarbone… head… okay, I'm alright. I sighed in relief. And then I did something only and idiot would do. I danced around in the middle of the road like a deranged freak yelling, "I'M ALRIGHT! I'M ALRIGHT!"

After that was all out of my system, and after I got yelled at by a few passersby to 'get out of the street!' I finally decided to check out the box and see if it was alright too.

I slowly opened the lid. The interior of the mahogany case was slightly cracked, and the ring sat in the velvet cushion in a lopsided fashion, but overall, it was fine. I might have needed to buy a new box, but the ring was still intact. Good.

I walked back down the street to my car and climbed in, surprised that it hadn't been hit for its location or ticketed by a cop yet. I drove back to my apartment and as soon as I walked in the door put the box in the safest place I could think of- my soccer duffle bag.

And no, it is not gross. For your information, I air that bag out weekly and wash all the clothes that go into it daily. Plus, it's not like I could keep it anywhere else. Amu and I did share an apartment, and that was practically the only thing that was mine. As in mine, mine- excluding my clothes and a few other things. We had one of those 'what's mine is yours' relationships.

When that was done I strolled into my bedroom, flipped on the TV, changed into some comfy clothes and flopped onto my bed. Now I could finally just relax…

Riiiiiiiiinnngg!

Until the phone rang that was.

Riiiiiiiiinnngg!

I groaned, throwing my pillow at it in hopes that it would silence its shrill ringing.

Riiiiiiiiinnngg!

No such luck.

Riiiiiiiiinnngg!

"Alright, be quiet! I'm coming already!" I slumped out of bed and walked over to the dock on the wall. Picking the phone up, I clicked the 'talk' button and muttered a harsh, "What?" into the speaker. I was not in the mood to talk to whoever was on the other end of the line.

"_Jeez, brutal much?_" the voice on the receiving end chuckled. It was Tadase. Only he would laugh at my grumpiness.

"Yeah, well I have a reason, ya know," I told him, sounding a little less hostile this time. Tadase was my best friend; I didn't want to scare him off.

"_And what, might I ask, would that be?_" he wondered, and I sighed into the phone.

"Well, for starters, I finally got it," I said with a half smile as I referred to Amu's ring. I heard Tadase draw in a breath from the other end of the line. He, along with Utau, Rima, and my parents, had been waiting forever for me to pick out a stupid ring.

"_You got it? Whe_-"

_Beep-beep-beep_. I pulled the phone away from my ear and looked at the screen to check the caller ID. _Incoming call: Hoshina, Utau 713-5743_. Bringing it back to my head, I spoke into the phone again.

"Hold on Tadase. Utau's calling. I'm gonna put us on three-way," I told Tadase before clicking 'talk' for a second time.

"_Hey Souma, did you get it?_" Utau asked as soon as my thumb lifted off the button.

Before I could reply, Tadase was answering for me. "_He got it_." He had a habit of doing that.

"_Oh My God, I am so happy for you! Which one did you get?_" Utau, although not always the girliest woman on the planet, cared a lot about my getting engaged to Amu. It's like she had some switch or something that was flipped whenever the word 'engagement' or 'wedding' or 'proposal' was mentioned. If Amu picked her as a bride's maid, forget get Bridezilla, we'd have Maidzilla on our hands.

"The heart one, you know, with the mystic topaz accents?" I said. Again, I sounded like I was of the other gender when saying this. But Utau had helped me pick out the ring, so she would know what I was talking about. Aside from Tadase- and Amu of course- she was my closest friend. And seeing as she was a girl, she was very helpful with all of this proposal stuff.

"_Yes! Take that you blonde shorty! Rima owes me fifty bucks!_" she screamed into the phone, and I had to pull it away from my ear so as not to have any permanent damage done to it. Typical woman.

Rima as well as Utau had been helping me out. I really appreciated it, and got a lot done because of them. But their competitiveness got the better of them both when it came to picking out the ring, and so they ended up making a bet on which one I would choose. Apparently Utau just won.

"_So what,_" Tadase broke in, cutting off Utau's shouts of joy, "_exactly was it that made you so irritable earlier Kukai?_"

I hit myself in the head, having totally forgotten about that until just now. These two people tended to do that to me. "Well yeah. It's like I said. I got the ring…"

"_Uh-huh_," both Tadase and Utau said in unison.

"But nearly killed myself trying to get it home safely…" The line went silent. "Yeah, I almost got hit by a truck…" It was awkward, so instead of waiting for them to answer, I just told them the entire story, not stopping once to listen for their reactions."Sooo… that's pretty much it."

"_Wow, Kukai. That's bad. Even for you_," Utau was the first to speak up. "_I think you set a new record for 'stupidest thing ever done on the face of this earth'_." So much for sympathy. Then again, this was Utau. Tadase would be more understanding.

"_I hate to admit it, but she's right Kukai. That was bad_." Or not… So glad to know I had my friend's support.

"_I mean Kukai, think about it. This was just your first day of having the ring. When are you proposing to Amu?_" Utau asked me, surprise and mock pity practically dripping from her tone.

"I don't know. I haven't even figured out what to do yet. Maybe next week," I said, already starting to panic over the fact that I didn't have a proposal idea. "Why?"

"_How are you gonna deal with that ring for a whole seven days? I mean, knowing you, you'll have it gone by tomorrow!_"

After that little comment I just hung up.


	2. The Fight

'_Baby, baby, baby, Oh! Baby, baby, baby, Oh!_'

As if by instinct, as soon as the music of my alarm clock radio started blaring, my hand came down on the _SNOOZE_ button. I groaned and turned back over, trying to hold on to what remained of my unconsciousness…

"Amu! Get up!" A loud voice echoed in my head. _So much for sleeping in_ I thought to myself. I grunted and just squeezed my eyes more tightly closed at the thought.

"Amu, come on, please?" This time the voice was gentle, less forceful. Still, I continued to ignore it. It was Saturday. No work, no college classes, no nothing. I was going to enjoy it- by sleeping in! After a few seconds of silence, I assumed that the voice was gone. Finally! Now I could-

"HINAMORI! GET OFF YOUR BUM AND GET UP!" I literally fell out of bed after that one. Guess I was wrong about the voice being gone. I hadn't been awake before, but once the cold, hardwood floor met my face, I sure wasn't what you would call asleep.

Pealing my eyes open, I looked straight into the smiling face of my _beloved_ boyfriend, Kukai Souma. I was gonna kill him. After pulling myself off the floor I stood up to face him. Putting on my sweetest smile, I said in the most innocent voice I could muster, "Kukai?"

He looked down at me. "Yes dear?" he asked, equally sincere. Now he was just messing with me. He never called me 'dear', or 'honey' or 'baby'. It just didn't fit in our relationship. It was always just 'Amu' or 'Hinamori' or, if he was feeling sweet, 'Amu-chan'.

But if he wanted to mess with me, then two could play at that game. "Can I ask you something?" I questioned him sweetly. My voice was barely masking my annoyance.

Kukai just shrugged and smiled. "Sure, why not?"

I hesitated for a moment, as if debating whether I really should ask him something. "…Come here," I said, my finger gesturing for him to come closer. Kukai leaned in with a smile, and I did too, putting my lips next to his ear like I was going to tell him a secret. "Why," I began, my voice practically dripping with innocence. But I didn't finish what I was going to say, because instead I slapped him across the head.

"Ow!" Kukai yelled, bringing his hands to the area of his head that had been hit. "Should'a seen that one coming…"

"_That_ was for knocking me out of bed so early on a Saturday!" I replied in satisfaction. I was about to go back to bed, when I got a better idea. "And this," I took a step closer to him before pouncing, hitting him square in the chest and sending us both tumbling backwards onto the bed. "is for changing the radio station on my alarm clock."

I grinned at him and giggled at the expression of surprise on his face. But that quickly turned into a look of deviance as he tackled me back, flipping us over and tickling my stomach. Dang it! How did he know that was my tickle spot?

"Well excuse me, but I happen to like American music, thank-you-very-much!" He said the last part as if it were one word. I gave him the best look of disbelief I could while still having my stomach tortured and assaulted by his hands.

"Justin Bieber? Really, Kukai? Really?" I asked, and he stopped tickling me. "That's almost worse than you listening to Buono! when I'm not around."

A look of hard concentration passed over his face, like he was trying to think of some sort of come-back. But when he couldn't, his face just flushed and he yelled, "Shut up!" He picked up a pillow and threw it in my face. "Liking American music doesn't automatically mean liking Justin Bieber!"

I pulled the pillow away from my face and looked up at him. He looked flustered, and frustrated. And as cute as it was, it wasn't… Kukai. Normally he was all jokes and smiles, happiness and soccer stuff. But lately, he seemed to be freaking out over the silliest things…

I lifted my hand away from the pillow. Gently, I rustled it through his rustic-copper colored locks. His eyes, which had earlier been averted, looked straight at me. Kukai gave me a small smile, and I happily returned it.

He placed his own hand over the one of mine that was still softly stroking his hair. We interlocked fingers and our hands remained in place right over his ear.

"You know I love you, right?" Kukai asked softly.

I couldn't do anything else but nod, before replying, "And I love you too." I waited for him to nod back but he didn't. "Kukai?"

He looked down at me with his bright, emerald green eyes. Normally I could tell what Kukai was feeling just by looking into them. But right now, his expression was unreadable. He leaned down and placed a small kiss on my forehead before crawling off of me and out of bed.

Stretching, he walked over to the door and called, "It's getting kinda late. Better leave for practice or Akimaru will kill me." Akimaru-san was his coach, and knowing him, Kukai was right. If he was late to practice, my boyfriend was a dead man. Still…

"Did you want some coffee before you go? Maybe breakfast?" I asked, but realized it was a stupid question as soon as he turned around and gave me that devious grin of his.

"Not if you're making it I don't. No offense Amu, but you're not the greatest chef." I picked up another pillow and chucked it at him. Kukai easily dodged it, of course, but it was worth a try.

"You're so mean!" I yelled at him as he walked out the bedroom door, sticking my tongue out at him. I might have been angry, but he was right. I sucked at cooking. In the past year, I'd given at least 3 people food poisoning, Kukai being one of them.

I swung my legs over the side of the bed and got up too, walking out after him. When I entered the living area, he was wandering around aimlessly. "Lose something?" I asked him. As if just noticing I walked into the room, he looked up, slight surprise etched into the features of his face.

"Uh, yeah. My duffle bag… it's missing," Kukai replied, continuing to search for his lost bag. I walked farther into the room, starting to look for it as well.

"Where did you last have it?" I asked, moving to the couch and looking behind it. Nope, nothing there.

"Next to the front door. I dropped it there when I came in." Kukai was in the kitchen now, looking under the table and in the cabinets of the butler pantry. Don't know why it would be there, but okay, stranger things have happened…

"Did you look there?" I called back to him, heading into the bedroom again to check there.

"What do you think, Amu?" I just knew he was rolling his eyes at me for that one. Moving over to the bed, I ducked to the floor and looked underneath it. Still no sign of it.

From the kitchen I heard the clanging sound of pots and pans. _Why on earth would he look there?_ I thought to myself, but continued to search nonetheless. After checking the master bathroom and the area around the chest of drawers, I decided to look in the closet.

As soon as I pushed the double doors open, my eyes met the bright purple and silver exterior of Kukai's duffle bag. Purple and silver were the colors for his team, the Tokyo Tigers.

"Found it!" I yelled, picking it up from off the closet floor and bringing it to the entrance of the bedroom. I heard a loud bang, followed by a muffled "Ow!"and then a startled "You did?" before Kukai actually appeared in the doorway, rubbing his head which was sporting a clearly visible bump.

"What, exactly, did you do?" I asked, moving closer to him to get a better look at the bump. How he was able to obtain such a large one in such a short amount of time, I had no idea. Underneath the thick layers of his hair, the welt on Kukai's head wasn't that noticeable. But a small area of his locks stuck up farther than usual, protruding like a small hill. I reached my hand out to touch it.

"OW!" Kukai cried out and winced at the slightest contact with the bump, which my fingers had only lightly brushed.

"And I thought I was the clumsy one," I muttered to myself, pulling my hand away. "Well, whatever you did, you'll have to tell me later, because you've gotta go." I handed him the bag, which he took and shouldered on his left arm. Kukai nodded in my direction and turned to leave. I was about to turn around and go get dressed when a thought crossed my mind.

"Kukai!" I said, running up to him just as he got to the front door. He spun on his heel to face me.

"What? You said it yourself, I'm gonna be late." There was a look of annoyance on his face, but the way he spoke, it sounded like going to practice was the last thing he wanted to do.

Suddenly, my faced flushed; at the thought of why he didn't want to go, and at the thought of what I wanted to ask him. "Uh… um, I just wanted to ask, you know, if you had all your… stuff…. you know, your… _guy_ stuff and all…"

I didn't want to say 'cup', because it just seemed kind of awkward. But I wanted to make sure he had it, especially after this morning and knowing just how clumsy he could be. Plus, the last time he had forgotten it, the outcome had not been good. Kukai gave me a puzzled look. "What do you mean?" he asked, clueless. I groaned. God, why did he have to make things so difficult?

"Oh, just give me the bag!" I yelled, snatching the duffle from out of his hands. I reached for the zipper of the front pouch, where I guessed he would keep his 'guy stuff' and began to pull on it.

"Oh, that guy stuff! Y-yeah, I got it. So you don't need to check!" Kukai's voice was laced with panic as he grabbed for the bag. For what? Because I was checking for… well, still! He didn't have to freak out so much, I was checking for his own good!

"I'm just looking! Why are you freaking out?" I asked him, pulling the bag to where I thought was out of his reach. Clearly, I was wrong, because Kukai easily side-stepped me and took the duffle right out of my hands. Dang his long limbed-ness.

"I've got it, okay? Don't need to freak out so much," he said with a backwards glance at the clock. "Whoa, way too late. I gotta go. Talk to you later! Love you!" he called as he turned and exited through the front door, which slammed shut behind him…

…What just happened?

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"I swear, I don't know what's wrong with him," I told Rima, who was sitting in the swivel chair next to me at Miho's Dinner. I had just finished telling her in elaborate detail the morning I shared with Kukai and how awkward it had been. "What do you think, Rima?"

The petite blonde looked up at me from under the rim of her sun glasses. She took a long, drawn-out sip of her iced tea before replying, "I think you should just ditch him, or all men in general for that matter."

I wasn't surprised by her response. She just _hated _men for some reason. "Rima, I'm not going to 'ditch' him." Sighing, I just sat and stirred my drink around in my cup with the colorful bendy straw it was served with. I stared into the refreshing, pink depths of my strawberry lemonade, hoping the answers might lie there.

I was basically completely zoned out the rest of the time, lost in my lemonade, until the bell signaling the arrival of another customer rang, and Rima let out a sharp gasp. At the abrupt sound, I turned my head to look at her. She was staring at something at the other end of the diner. I turned to follow her gaze, stopping on a man with long purple hair and gold eyes.

"Rima, do you know him?" I asked her, as her rigid form became even tenser when he began walking straight for us. Rima swung around in her swivel chair, facing the opposite direction.

"No. No, I don't know him at _all_," she said, but there was an edge in her voice, and the man continued to walk towards us despite her claims.

"Really?" I asked her again, "Because I'm pretty sure he thinks he knows one of us, and it's not me." When he arrived at the bar, he took the seat right next to Rima.

After ordering a cup of earl grey tea, which I didn't even know they served at Miho's Diner, he looked over in our direction and smiled. "Hello Mashiro-san. I didn't expect to see you here." While Rima huffed and stuck her nose in the air, completely ignoring who I thought was a stranger, my eyebrow was rising higher and higher up on my forehead, etching the expression of curiosity on my face.

"Don't know him at all, huh?" I asked, throwing Rima an accusing glance, which she promptly ignored. I rolled my eyes at her. Turning away from her, I held my hand out to the man, putting on a smile and introducing myself. "Hi, I'm Amu Hinamori. Clearly you two know each other, but Rima's being too much of a child to introduce us."

"I am not a child!" the blonde yelled from next to me, turning around to give me her signature glare. It might've made me tremble when we were kids, but now I just found it best to ignore it, especially over small matters. Rima directed her attention from me to the man sitting next to us. "And trust me, you'd be better off without an introduction."

The man sighed, but placed his hand in my still outstretched one. "I'm Nagihiko Fujisaki, and I'm sorry if I've… inconvenienced you. Mashiro-san tends to find me rather… Hm, I guess you could say irritating." He pulled his hand away and chuckled a bit.

"You could say a lot more than just irritating…" Rima grumbled from beside me. I turned to Nagihiko in hopes of some sort of an explanation. He caught my glance and sighed again.

"Rima and I live in the same apartment building-"

"Do not call me that!" Rima cut him off.

He continued on anyway. "My apartment's right above hers, so you might even say we're neighbors. But in the short time I've lived there- I just moved in last month- I have caused quite a few… disputes that don't sit well with _Mashiro-san_." He put extra emphasis on her name to assure Rima that he wouldn't call her by anything but that.

But at his explanation, Rima just snorted. "Is that what you call them? Disputes? Really?" she rolled her eyes and turned to look at Nagihiko. "More like 'disturbances'! There was the one o'clock in the morning move-in, the party for your cousin, the 'redecorating', as you put it," she said this last part with distaste, "the visit from that snively-idiot-of-a-man you call a boss that wouldn't shut up, and don't even get me started on the incident with the rooster!"

I had to snicker a bit at that one. "Rooster?" I asked. Nagihiko flushed.

"Well, yeah. You see-"

"Don't talk about it!" Rima screeched at the both of us, effectively silencing Nagi before he could tell me the story that I was now dying to here. Looking around the diner, I saw that we had unknowingly attracted the attention of several other customers. I smiled awkwardly in attempt to break at least some of the tension.

"Well, it's clear you two have some… issues, but that doesn't mean you can't be good neighbors and friends, right?" That was probably the stupidest question I have ever asked. Still, Nagi looked at least sorta hopeful… I think.

Rima, on the other hand, just looked irritated. "Amu, I think you hit your head just a little too hard this morning," she said, referring to my falling off of the bed while taking my hand in hers. She pulled me out of my seat and started dragging me in the direction of the exit. "Come on, it's time we left."

I looked back longingly at the refreshment bar, where my drink sat only half emptied. "But… my lemonade," I whined, reaching out pointlessly in the other direction. Rima just continued to pull me away, ignoring my small childish complaints.

Sigh. This day was just getting weirder and weirder…

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

_Slam!_ The door swung loudly shut behind me; not that I hadn't given it any help by angrily shoving it closed as soon as I walked in. Not two seconds later did it reopen, Kukai thundering through the entry-way behind me, slamming it shut as well. We would definitely be hearing some complaints from the neighbors later on. I threw my bag onto the kitchen counter, putting so much force behind it that it slid right over the edge and fell to the floor. Great.

As I walked- or, more like trampled- around the side of our kitchen island, Kukai moved into the room, stopping in the archway that connected the kitchen to the living area, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "Why aren't you listening to me?" he said, utterly too calm for the amount of tension in the air. I bent down to pick up my bag, trying hard not to scream at him.

"Because you're not listening to me!" I said, my patience running very thin at the moment. "A transfer, Kukai, really? And to Hokkaido of all places, too! We never even talked about this! Why didn't you say anything, huh?"

I glared over in Kukai's direction. He was rubbing his eyelids with his fingers, putting pressure on them to help alleviate the headache I just know he had. "Amu, coach asked me about it last week. He's upset that I've been putting this off and wants to know-"

"Then why did you put it off?" I yelled at him. "You said he asked you last week! We could have been talking about this then, Kukai! We can't just pack up and leave! The transfer's to Hokkaido for God's sake! That's in another part of the country entirely! A separate island!"

"You see, but that's just it-"

"What's just it? What? I understand that this job is important to you, Kukai," I said, and he shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"No, Amu, I don't think you do understand-"

"I don't understand? Kukai, you don't understand!" I was on the verge of tears now, practically crying because I was so upset. "You don't understand how much we have here! How much we'll never have there, or anywhere else because it's not here, where we are, where we met, where our friends live! You'll never-"

"Dang it, Amu, would you just listen?" Kukai yelled me, the scary calm he had maintained earlier now completely gone. I looked up at him, only to find him glaring back at me. "I didn't accept the transfer! That's what I've been trying to tell you this entire time!"

He averted his eyes. Upon looking closer, I could see that small, dark circles had begun to form underneath them. I had never seen him look so worn out before. The tension and anger dropped from my face. Now I was just confused.

"But, you said…" I trailed off. Kukai sighed.

"I never actually said I accepted the transfer, Amu. Only that I was offered one."

Still blatantly confused, I thought back on the entire thing. When I had gone to Tokyo Central Stadium to watch Kukai finish up practice, all of the other players were already packing up and getting ready to leave. Kukai was talking to coach Akimaru. They both had very stern looks on their faces, Akimaru-san's expression more of impatience, Kukai's more like contemplation. I had only heard bits and pieces of their conversation.

_"I need to know, Souma…"_

_"I'm sorry; I still have to talk it over with…"_

_"Figure it out, and fast…"_

_Since I didn't want to be rude, I hadn't interrupted them. Instead, I had waited until they had finished speaking, and then went over to greet Kukai._

_"Hey 'Souma', how was practice?" I asked him happily._

_He had looked distracted when he replied. "…It was fine."_

_"Just fine?"_

_"Yeah. Come on, I parked the car in the south lot."_

_I decided not to question him further until later on, so I followed him out of the Stadium and to the south lot. Once we got in the Audi and were on the road, I finally decided to speak up._

_"So… what were you and Akimaru-san talking about?" I asked, glancing over at Kukai who sat in the driver's seat. He shrugged his shoulders as he turned onto Sakura Avenue._

_"Nothing much. Soccer stuff." Of course then I was generally curious, considering the fact that he was trying to hide something and I knew it wasn't just 'nothing much'. I pushed him a little more._

_"Your coach looked a little, um, irritated, after practice when you to were talking. Why?" Kukai just sighed heavily. Clearly, he was not up for this._

_"Amu, please, not now. Practice was long, I just wanna get home." He really didn't want to talk about it. We rode in silence the rest of the way home. Still, the unanswered question itched at the edges of my mind the entire time._

_When we finally arrived at the apartment and I was about to unlock the door, Kukai finally decided to talk. "Are you still thinking about what happened at practice, Amu?" I tried to shrug nonchalantly, shaking my head in a 'No, not really' gesture. I practically felt Kukai roll his eyes from behind me. "Amu, I know you are," he said pointedly. I turned around to face him._

_"How do you know?" I asked, startled that it was really that obvious. Despite his distracted mood, he chuckled._

_"You're a terrible liar."_

_I huffed. "Well, yeah I'm still thinking about it. What did you expect? You're starting to worry me with this Kukai," I said to him. Kukai's smile faded. He directed his eyes to the ceiling, looking up as if hoping for something. Probably for me to shut up._

_"Do you really want to know?" he asked. I nodded eagerly. He just sighed. "Coach told me another team is willing to have me transfer," he said, redirecting his glance away from the ceiling, but not looking me in the eyes. I gasped._

_"Transfer?" He nodded._

_"To Hokkaido. A team called the Hawks. They're willing to trade two guys just to get me."_

_I turned away from him to hide the look of upset that I knew was on my face. "That's… great, Kukai," I lied. He just groaned from behind me._

_"Did I not just tell you how bad you are at lying? Amu, I know you're upset."_

_At that point and time, I didn't care if he knew that I was angry, because I was. "You're transferring to another team, to Hokkaido? Why?"_

I didn't even give him a chance to respond, because after that, I turned around, unlocked the door, and stomped into the room, leading up to where we were now. Thinking back on it, he was right, he never actually said he accepted the transfer…

God, what had I done? I hadn't even listened to him!

"Kukai… aw, crap did I screw up." I hung my head and slumped to the floor, leaning against the island for support. From the corner of my eye I saw Kukai move from the kitchen wall.

"Yes, you did. And that's funny, considering it's usually the guy who does that." His humor did nothing to make me feel better. Although, I guess I didn't deserve to, especially after how bad I made him feel… I dropped my head between my legs and groaned. I was such a terrible person.

I heard the familiar shuffle of converse soles on hardwood and then a muffled thump from next to me. Of course it was Kukai, but I didn't bother to look up at him. I was too ashamed for wrongly accusing him.

"Amu," he said pleadingly, slipping his arm around my shoulders from the side. I ignored him, shaking my head. "Amu, come on."

I tried to say 'I-can't-believe-I-did-that-why-aren't-you-angry-at-me' but it sounded more along the lines of, "Micnt-blee-idtat-wyroo-agri-amee." There was no way he was going to be able to get a word out of that. Kukai chuckled again.

"Because I'm your boyfriend and I can't stay mad at you," he said lightly. How in the world he was able to understand that, I have no clue. I lifted my head from my legs, a questioning look no doubt on my face.

"How did you even make out a word of that?" I asked incredulously. He smiled at me.

"Three years of dating and you get used to it," he said, pulling away from me and standing up. After brushing off his jeans, he offered his left hand to me. I took it gratefully, pulling myself up with his help.

"You mean I've done that before?" I asked, looking at him wide-eyed.

"Of course!" he smiled at me. "All girls do that. It's like, the third lesson in the 'A Guy's Guide to Dating' book. Chapter Three: Mumbling when Mad."

I had to giggle a bit at that one. 'A Guy's Guide to Dating'? When I was about ten years old, my dad had told me boys had this dating playbook that they used to understand girls and get them to like them. I was actually gullible enough to go online and search practically every library in Japan and beyond for that book. Never found it.

"Kukai, there are two flaws to your explanation," I pointed out.

He stopped short. "What?"

"1. I know there isn't a dating guide for boys. 2. I wasn't mad, it was more like embarrassed, or ashamed."

At my statement, Kukai laughed, knowing that there was no point in arguing that there was such a book. I began to laugh with him. I thought we were just going to sit there cracking up like idiots for the rest of the night, when he suddenly stopped. Taking notice of this, I wiped a stray tear from my eye and look at him. "What? Is something wrong?" He titled his head back and forth slightly with an unsure expression, which basically just meant 'sort of' in Kukai language. "What?"

He looked me in the eyes, his emerald green orbs meeting my golden ones. "You said you weren't mad, but more like embarrassed or ashamed," he took my hand in his. "Of what?"

I flushed at his comment, looking away. I felt him squeeze my hand. Swallowing, I started to reply, "Because…"

His hand squeezed tighter, "Because?"

I gulped. "Because… I messed up in front of you- badly. I accused you of something you didn't do…"

I was always afraid of messing up in front of Kukai; afraid he wouldn't like me anymore if I made too big of a mistake. I had made a really big one today, one that, if not talked over, could have lead to some major issues in our relationship. Getting upset again, I pulled my hand away from Kukai's. He didn't grab it again.

"Amu…" he said tensely. Darn it! I just had to go and ruin it, didn't I-

_Whack! _All of a sudden, there was a very loud rush of air next to my ear and a very painful throb in the side of my head. I looked at Kukai. He was wearing a blank expression, but his hand was raised. Grrrr…

"What the heck was that for?" I yelled at him, putting my hands protectively over the growing bump on my noggin. Kukai smiled at me.

"_That_ was for being such an idiot," he said deviously, creeping closer to me. I backed up, knowing all too well where this was going.

"W-what are you doing?" I asked, turning slightly. When he stepped even closer, I began running. I didn't even take two steps when I was grabbed from behind and tossed over Kukai's shoulder.

"And this is for this morning!" My boyfriend laughed triumphantly. I balled my hands into fists, pounding on his back as hard as I could. Although I knew it would have no effect. God, was I a weakling. Kukai began walking out of the kitchen, into the living area. I thought he was going to set me down on the couch or something, but of course, he didn't. Instead, he began running around the room, swinging me back and forth until I was laughing uncontrollably.

"Sto-st-stop!" I sputtered between giggles. At my hopeless pleas, Kukai slowed down, stopping right next to the glass top coffee table. I looked down and saw my reflection: messy pink hair, flustered cheeks a similar shade, wide grin splitting my face. I stared at myself for a minute. When Kukai noticed I had stopped laughing- or saying anything for that matter- he pulled me off of his shoulder, still holding me, but out in front of him this time. He looked at me, seriousness consuming his expression.

"Amu," Kukai said softly, meeting my eyes. "you have no reason to be ashamed, or embarrassed. I love you, but I love you best when you're smiling."

Of course, at that comment, I just had to smile, so I did, wrapping my arms around his neck. He pulled me closer, and right then, there was nowhere else in world I would have rather been.


	3. The Plan

"How the heck am I going to do this?"

It was Friday night. Amu was busy at work, which made this the perfect time to figure out how exactly I was going to propose to her. Utau, Tadase and even Rima had come over to help me out. We were currently sitting at my kitchen table; two laptops, a stack of wedding magazines and about a billion note cards scattered across its surface. By now, we had practically gone over every proposal idea known to man, none of them good enough.

"Kukai, this is your proposal," Utau told me, never once glancing up from the handful of index cards she was flipping through. "You have to be creative, put your own ideas to use."

I groaned and banged my head on the table. "What do you expect me to do?" I asked helplessly, the new pain in my head not helping me in the slightest. "Write out 'Amu, will you marry me' in the sky with one of those special airplanes?"

Rima took a sip of her tea before replying, "Of course not." She took another sip before adding on, "That would be way too cheesy; done to many times already." These people were _such_ great help.

"How about you do something personal?" Tadase suggested. I looked over in his direction and gave him a hopeful look.

"Like what?"

He thought for a moment. "How about you ask your coach if you can propose to her live on the big screen after a game?"

It was a good idea, but I shook my head. "Akimaru would purposely lose the Championships before he let me use the big screen," I said miserably. "It's sad but true. Besides, that's more public than personal." I heard Utau snort from next to me. I angled my head on the hard surface of the table to look at her. She had set the cards down and was staring at me. When are eyes met she rolled hers. Typical.

"Suck it up, Souma. It's not supposed to be easy," Utau flipped a blonde ponytail over her shoulder and got up from the table to walk over to the fridge. "If you want to come up with a proposal idea, I suggest you go off of what Tadase said. Not exactly as big as the big screen, but something personal." She pulled a stainless steel door open and observed the contents of the organized shelves for a moment before pulling out can of iced tea and walking back over to the table.

"Something personal… personal…" I huffed, blowing a coppery lock out of my face. I thought for a moment. Personal? Hmmm… "Like our first date? Or when we first met?" At this, Utau perked up.

"Yes! That's perfect!" she yelled. Rima shrugged, Tadase smiled. "Base your idea for a proposal off of that!"

I though back to the first time Amu and I ever met. Everything that happened…

I still have it. That lemonade bottle…

"THAT'S IT!" I jumped up in my seat, practically scaring Tadase, Rima and Utau out of theirs.

"What's it?" Utau asked, but I ignored her. I pushed away from the table and exited the kitchen, walking down the hall to my bedroom. When I entered the room, my eyes went directly to the nightstand. I moved over to it, pulling the bottom drawer open and scrambling through it.

After digging through extensive amounts of junk- I have no idea how it all fit in there- I finally found it, the lemonade bottle. Ecstatic, I loudly expressed this by yelling out "FOUND IT!"

From in the kitchen, I heard Utau angrily growl, "_What's it?_" Knowing that she might come in here in kill me any minute if I didn't answer, I walked back out of the room, bottle behind my back, smile on my face.

I moved over to the kitchen table, where my three friends waited anxiously to see what 'it' was. They all looked at me expectantly. "Ladies and gentlemen," I began, but then added in, "and Utau," and she gave me perhaps the scariest death glare in the history of Utau's scary death glares. I ignored it and continued on anyways. "I present to you, my idea!"

I removed the bottle from behind my back, bringing it out for them all to see. Tadase smiled uncertainly, Rima gave me a blank stare, and Utau looked at me open-mouthed.

"That's it? A lemonade bottle? _Really?_" I shrugged at her.

"I kind of expected that reaction. After all, none of you guys know the story…" At this, the disappointed blonde perked back up. The girl was a sucker for a good drama.

"Story? What story? Tell me the story!" She squealed excitedly, scooching into the table like and eager kid. Tadase moved in too, interested in what I had to tell. Rima, although she tried to hide it, was intrigued as well- you could tell when she actually set down her tea and faced the rest of us for the first time since she walked in the door. Figures. They were _all _suckers for a good drama.

I cleared my throat and began telling them the story of how Amu and I first met…

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

_I was in Seiyo Park. It was a Sunday, around seven o'clock. The sun was still out, spilling warm, golden light over the area. I had just finished up a game of soccer and was really looking forward to something to drink._

_A street band was setting up on the park platform, preparing for a night performance. While the bass player and electric guitarist set up their amps, the boy at the drum set lightly tapped his snare with one stick, twirling the other in his open hand._

_I circled around the platform, over to the drink vender on the other side of the park. The small, refrigerated cart with its yellow umbrella was a welcoming sight. Michi- the vender- was practically always there- always ready to serve me and everyone else an ice-cold drink when it was needed. When he saw me, he smiled._

"_Kukai! How's it been?" he waved me over, not that he needed to. I walked up to the cart and gave Michi a high-five._

"_Not too bad. Just finished up a game," I replied. Remembering how sweaty I was, I used the edge of my shirt to wipe off my face. I smiled at him before asking, "You know what I want?"_

_He grinned back at me. "The usual?"_

_I nodded. "The usual." Michi flipped open the lid to his cart cooler. After rummaging around in it for a minute, he pulled out my order._

_In Michi's hands was one of those plastic bottles with a soda can top. Through the clear walls of the plastic, I could see yellow liquid swishing around inside the container; lemonade. I dropped a handful of change onto to the cart's counter and he handed me the drink. "You got lucky. That was the last one."_

"_Thanks Michi," I held the lemonade out to him in a short gesture of thanks. Michi smiled, and was about to hand me my change, when something else caught his attention._

"_Ah, Miss, can I help you?" He looked past me, and I turned to see who he was speaking to._

_What I saw might be what some people called a shock, but what I considered more of a pleasant surprise. My vision was greeted with a wild splash of color upon seeing the girl's bright pink hair, tied back in a messy ponytail. Her gold eyes matched the splotches of yellow paint scattered over her overall shorts. The thin smile that spread across her face was warm and welcoming._

_I moved aside so she could order. At my gesture, she quickly directed her smile towards me before turning her attention back to Michi. "One lemonade please?"_

_As I mentally face palmed myself, Michi shook his head. "I'm sorry miss, but I'm afraid I just sold the last one to him," he pointed past her at me. The girl turned around to face me._

"_Oh, well that's too bad," she said, and at that exact moment a thought crossed my mind._

"_Don't feel bad, miss. You can have this one," I said to her, offering my lemonade. She shook her head, putting her hands up in front of her._

"_I couldn't do that," she said, pushing it back toward me. "I mean, you already paid for it."_

_I just shrugged. "Alright then," I popped the soda top of the bottle, opening the lemonade. I took a sip and then held it out to her again. "How about we share it instead?"_

_She reached a hand out to the bottle hesitantly. I smiled at her and nodded. After a moment or two, she smiled back, taking the bottle. "Thanks."_

_We said goodbye to Michi and left the cart, walking back to the center of the park. She handed me the bottle again and I took another sip. "So… who are you and what brings you to Seiyo Park?" We walked a little farther and came to a stop at one of the benches circling the performance platform. The band from earlier was almost done setting up by then. We decided to take a seat._

_The girl tucked a stray strand of pink hair behind her ear before turning to look at me. "Well, I guess it would be best to start with and introduction," she said, smiling. I smiled back, an expectant look on my face. "My name's Amu. Amu Hinamori."_

_I motioned for her to keep going. "And?" I asked. Amu just raised a questioning eyebrow at me, her smile turning from sweet to playful._

"And _I am twenty years old, I take classes at the Art and Photography College of Tokyo, and the reason why I am here is because I stop in the park every day after classes on my way home. Anything else you wanna know?"_

_I chuckled a bit. "Nope, I'm good," I said taking another drink of lemonade. Amu scoffed playfully before taking the lemonade from my hands and sipping from it herself._

"_So, what about you?" she asked. The sun was setting now, and the fading light outlined her profile silhouette. That was a picture I would never forget._

_I smiled at her and leaned back against the bench, hands folding behind my head. "Okay. My name is Kukai Souma, I am twenty-_one _years old, I go to Northern Tokyo University, I am the _best _forward their soccer team has ever had, and the reason why I am here is because I just finished up playing a game of said sport in this park."_

_Amu nodded approvingly before bringing the lemonade bottle to her lips and sipping from it once again. "It's nice to meet you, Kukai Souma," she said when she was done drinking, and handed me the bottle again. I took it, but didn't drink from it. Instead, I set it down._

"_It's nice to meet you too, Amu Hinamori."_

_For awhile, we just sat there, talking about nothing and everything all at the same time. She laughed, I smiled. I messed around, she hit me jokingly. The entire time we were drinking from our shared lemonade. We were friends. It was nice._

"_This is nice," she said, reading my mind. The sun was all the way down; the street lamps circling the center of the park had all come on._

"_Yeah it is," I replied, looking around the park. It was almost empty, only a few people here and there, and then the band from earlier. I wondered when they were going to start playing. "Hey, you said you come here every day, right?"_

_Amu nodded. "Every day I have classes." I thought about that._

"_Then maybe if I'm lucky, I'll see you tomorrow."_

_She smiled, and it looked like she was about to say something, but was cut off by the deep, vibrant sound of a bass being strummed. I looked up at the platform. The band was set up, the stage blazed to life with color and sound, and they were starting their first song. _Finally.

_I looked at Amu, catching her eye. Jerking my head in the direction of the platform, I muttered a quick, "Come on," before grabbing her hand and dragging her from the bench. She made a startled sort of gasping sound, but I ignored it, pulling her to the center of the park. The rest of the band picked up and an up-beat tune started playing, words following soon after._

'Feel the beat and just let go,

Get the rhythm into your soul.

Let the music take you

Anywhere it wants to.

When we're stuck and can't get free,

No matter what we'll still be singing.

Come on, come on turn up the music.

It's all we got, we're gonna use it_'_

_Amu's confused expression turned to one of shear happiness as we started dancing; wild, goofy, and free. I twirled her with one hand, spinning her in circles until she was dizzy. When I let go, she spun out, a whirlwind of giggles, pink hair and yellow paint._

_The once nearly empty park began filling in, the happy faces of children and adults alike crowding into the center circle, the lively music of the band drawing more and more of them in. A sort of ring of people began forming around Amu and me, observers watching us dance together. I leaned in close to Amu, whispering in her ear. "I thought this kind of thing only happened in the movies," I said, and she smiled._

"_Then enjoy it while you can, movie star."_

'All we have is now,

Let's make the most of this.

Come on break it out,

So everyone can hear it.

They don't have to understand,

But we'll make them if we can.

Do you hear me,

Are you withme_?'_

_We kept dancing, sometimes together, sometimes separately, taking time to admire the other's dance skills. When Amu danced, she was clumsy, yet coordinated, if that's even possible. When I danced, she said that I "looked like I was still on the soccer field." I had to laugh._

"_I guess I should take that as a compliment." She grinned at me and kept dancing._

_The band played through an extensive list of songs, each and every one just as good as the last. We took breaks here and there, stopping to catch our breath or get drinks of lemonade. Soon the bottle was empty._

"_Thanks for sharing with me," Amu said as we took a seat back on the bench, the band dying down, the crowd thinning out. I took the empty lemonade, which had been in her possession at the time, from her hands._

"_No problem," I replied._

"_Hey," I turned to face Amu at the sound of her intonation. She had pulled a pen and paper from her bag and was writing something out, using her knee for support. "Are you really planning on coming to see me tomorrow?"_

_I chuckled. "Maybe. Why?" She handed me the paper and put the pen back in her bag._

"_Here. In case you can't find me." Amu got up from the bench, shouldering her bag and smiling back down at me. "See you tomorrow, Kukai." She said it as if not giving me a choice, and then she walked off. I looked down at the paper. _723-2121. A phone number? Already? Huh.

_I pocketed the slip of paper and stood up. The lemonade bottle was in my hands. _What should I do with this, _I thought to myself. I didn't want to just throw it away, it held a pretty good memory. But I couldn't keep it, it would start to stink…. I could always rinse it out, couldn't I?_

_I decided to keep the bottle. Passing it back and forth between my two hands, I began walking home as well…_

"Ah, so that's why you keep and old lemonade can in your nightstand." I nodded at Utau's statement.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

"Yup, that's how I got it." I looked around at my group of friends. Tadase had a very thoughtful expression on his face. "What's on your mind, Tadase?" I asked him.

He looked at me. "Well, I just want to know how you plan to use this in your proposal, Kukai." I laughed. I had been so busy telling them about how I had met Amu, that I totally forgot to mention what the lemonade bottle had to do with my proposal idea.

"It kind of interesting actually. You see-"

_Ker-chick._We all froze, wide-eyed. From right outside the kitchen, I heard the clicking sound of the front door lock tumble. I silently mouthed the words '_Move!__Move!_'to the three of them and instantly we all scrambled out of our seats, rushing to pick up the papers, magazines, and note cards that were still on the table.

_Ker-clunk._It was the sound of the second lock, the pad-lock. Man, was I happy that Amu was a safety freak. It bought us some more time-

_Creeeeeak._All two seconds of it. Utau had just finished stuffing the last of the articles of paper into her gigantic bottomless-pit-of-a-purse when Amu walked into the room. I put the bottle behind my back.

"I'm back," she called, strolling into the kitchen with her face in a photography file- guess she brought work home. When Amu finally put the folder down, she had to stop and blink a couple of times. She hadn't been expecting Utau, Tadase, and Rima to be here, so when she saw them I guess it was a bit of a surprise.

"Oh, hi guys," she said, setting down her purse and the file on the counter. "I didn't know you were coming over. Did Kukai invite you?"

Thank god for my girlfriend's cluelessness. "Uh yeah, he invited us," Utau said with a nervous, but relieved, smile. "We were, uh, just playing some cards." Good job Utau for coming up with a cover story.

Amu smiled. "Sounds fun!" she looked around the table curiously. "Where're the cards?"

I wanted smack my head on the table. Good job Utau for ruining the cover story... Tadase cleared his throat from next to me. "We didn't start yet," he broke in. "Actually, we were waiting for you." Yes! Way to save it Tadase! I swear, for such an innocent little guy, he was a good liar. Ah well, it came in handy.

Amu walked over to the table and took a seat. I thought we were in the clear, until she noticed I was still standing up. She looked at me curiously. "Kukai, what's behind your back?"

Shoot.

"No-thin'." I began inching my way out of the kitchen, towards the bedroom.

"Where are you going?" You know, sometimes my girlfriend was too curious for her own good.

"Uh, you know, just to the bathroom." She uttered a quiet 'oh' before looking away from me and down at the cards Rima had dealt out to her. I caught the blonde girl's eye and read the words they silently spoke.

_You're cutting it really close. I would put that away if I were you._

Knowing just how right she was, I ran out of the room.


	4. The Date

"You want me to do what?" I asked into the phone, my tone slightly surprised.

"_Cut __classes __for __the __day __and __meet __me __at __Central __Station.__" _Kukai sounded perfectly normal when saying this, all things considered. I mean, he was asking me to _cut__class._I never cut class. Not even when I was sick. Why did he expect me to do it _then _of all times?

"Kukai, you know I can't do that. I have my Black and White Seminar to attend, and then my oral report about Leonardo DaVinci and his art in my History of the Arts class is due, and don't forget my photo file. I just finished that up and need to turn it in too." From the other end of the line, I heard Kukai groan.

"_First __off, __couldn__'__t __you __just __say __you __were __sick __or __sign __up __for __another __day __or __something? __And __second __off, __Leonardo __DaVinci?__I __thought __he __was __an __actor, __so __what __does __he __have __to __do __with __art __and __photography? __Not __that __acting __and __movies __aren__'__t __art__…"_

I sighed, rolling my eyes at his mistake. "That's Leonardo _DiCaprio_, Kukai. DaVinci is a Renaissance artist."

I heard a quiet 'oh' from the other end and a few chuckles. "And _no_, I can't just say I'm sick. My professors would never believe it, considering I've been there when I'm sick." Now I heard a scoff.

"_Okay, __so __I __get __not __missing __it __over __a __simple __cold,__but __then __you __could __just __say __you __had, __like, __the __flu._"

Now _I_scoffed. "I _have_had the flu. And a 102 degree fever. _And_strep throat- twice! I still went each and every time!" there was an almost deafening silence on the line for a few moments.

"_Wow, __you __are __dedicated_," Kukai said in an astonished tone. I rolled my eyes for the second time in the past three minutes.

"You're my boyfriend, I expected you to know that." I moved the phone between my shoulder and ear to free up my hands. Looking around, I saw that my messenger bag was on the ground, propped up against the side of the kitchen counter. I walked over to it and picked it up.

"_I __do __know __that __Amu, __I __do, __but_," Kukai sighed. He sounded generally frustrated, like this was really bugging him. It probably did. He hated debating. "_sometimes, __it__'__s __best __just __to __take __a __break, __take __a __breather. __You __haven__'__t __had __one __in __a __while, __so __it__'__s __past __time __that __you __did._"

I thought about this for a moment. A break? It was true I hadn't had one in a while, but for good reason. They weren't a necessity, and it was better to spend my time doing something productive, like going to work or school. Still…

"I don't know Kukai," I spoke into the phone hesitantly. My bag hung longingly on my arm, practically staring me down with guilt and shame. I decided to put it back on the ground. From across the room, I could see that the clock read 8:30. I only had an hour and a half until my first seminar. There was still plenty of time to get there but, "Why today of all days?"

There was a sharp, almost surprised intake of breath before Kukai responded, stuttering, "_Well, __you __know, __I __figured- __because __it__'__s __such __a __nice __day __and __all__… __and __you __do __need __a __break __and, __well __yeah_." At his tone, I could just imagine the flustered look on his face while he spoke, although for what reason I was unsure. I sighed.

"You _really _want me to skip?" I asked. Sometimes, I was way too indecisive.

"_No, __Amu, __I__'__ve __just __been __begging __you __to __cut __class __for __the __last __ten __minutes __all __so __I __could __tell __you __to __go __anyway_," Kukai replied sarcastically.

I glared into the phone, though I knew he couldn't see it. "Kukai," I said warningly, "don't test me." If he was going to make fun, then I wasn't going to skip.

"_Yes, __I __want __you __to __skip. __I __know __how __much __college __means __to __you, __and __I __wouldn__'__t __ask __unless __it __was __for __a __good __reason, __so __just- __trust __me, __I __want __you __to __trust __me._" I was silent for a moment, still a bit hesitant. But then I thought about how sincerely Kukai had asked, and all- or at least almost all- of my doubts disappeared. I mean, come on. He was my boyfriend. If there wasn't trust in our relationship then what was?

"I trust you," I finally sighed into the phone. There was another moment of silence. At first I thought he'd hung up, but when I heard a familiar _crash_, I knew he hadn't. Something between a smirk, an eye-roll, and a scowl crossed my face, but it somehow worked out into a smile. "You broke the vase with the door again, didn't you?"

There was an indignant chuckle. "_What __else?_"

"You realize that's the seventh one you've smashed through the process of knocking it over with the door as you walk in, don't you?"

"_Yeeeaaah, __we __really __got __to __put __that __in __a __better __place__…_ _you__'__d __think __we __would __have __done __that __by __now_…"

I shrugged. After so many times, you really don't get as angry about some things… even though you should. "Seventh time's the charm; plus, it looks best in that corner," my inner interior decorator was beginning to show, but I shook it off and tried to get back on topic. "So where, exactly, do you want me to meet you?"

"_Central __Station; __9:00 __o__'__clock __and __as __sharp __as __possible._"

I laughed. "Why do you have to say that? Can't you just say 9:00 o'clock sharp?"

"_Of __course __I __can__'__t! __Knowing __you, __you__'__d __never __be __there __at __exactly __nine __o__'__clock, __and __plus,__ '__as __sharp __as __possible__' __is __more __interesting!_" I was about to reply with a witty comeback like, 'You're more interesting', but was cut off when he quickly added on, "_So __you__'__ll __be __there?_"

My first response was a nod, but then I realized he couldn't see. I had to stop being so physical with my responses. "Yeah, I'll be there," I replied instead. There was an excited intake of breath.

"_Great! __And __before __I __forget, __bring __your __swim suit __along._"

I sputtered a confused, "Why?" into the phone.

"_Just __do __it.__" _There was a loud _clack_, and then a resounding _beep_, and I pulled the phone away from my ear in shock. He hung up. I shook my head, but smiled beside the point. Kukai was clearly excited about something. Who was I to deny his happiness?

Docking the phone and exiting the kitchen, I headed down the hall and into the bedroom. My school bag, which was quickly deposited onto the floor upon entering the room, was soon replaced by a plaid, turquoise, red and white purse. I set that on my dresser top and moved to my closet. After swinging the door open and flipping the light on, I set out in search of an outfit to match the bag I had just set out. Yes- I do base almost all of my outfits around a bag.

I had pulled out three shirts, two skirts, four pairs of shorts, and even a sundress before I actually found something decent to wear. The final decision turned out to be a red tank top with white lace trim and then a pair of blue and white plaid shorts to match the pattern on the purse. To top it all off, I accessorized with a pair of red string up boots and a short sleeved white pull over. After folding my swimsuit neatly into my purse, I grabbed my keys and a pair of sunglasses. All ready.

Taking one last look at the clock, which now read 8:45, I headed out the door of my apartment and started for Central Station.

The streets of Tokyo were bustling with people- lively and energetic. I pushed through crowds and made my way to the edge of Suzume Avenue. When I came to the crosswalk, I pushed the button on the side of the stop light and waited for my turn to cross the street.

Seeing as the avenue was jam-packed with cars, I figured it would be a few minutes before I got to cross, and so took the time to check over my appearance. There was a small mirror on the inside flap of my purse, so I used that to check my hair. It was a bit ruffled here and there, so I rearranged the few clips that had been placed in it before smoothing it out.

While I was working on my hair, I hadn't noticed that the little orange hand across the street had turned into a little white person, so while everyone else moved on, I stood there in the middle of the sidewalk- until I was nearly knocked off of my feet by some shoving passerby.

I looked up from the mirror and gave a small shriek. Closing the purse, I tucked it away and pushed through the crowd that had once again built up. As I skittered across Suzume Avenue- a very _wide _avenue, I might add- I could see on the other end the small orange hand that began to blink at intervals with the little white person. Crap.

I picked up the pace, but so did the blinking of the hand, signaling that the crossing time was almost up. At this point, I was in a mad dash for the edge of the road, and right as the hand stopped blinking, there to stay, I skidded over the curb.

For a split second, it was just me zipping through open air. Then I ran into something firm, not hard, but firm; face first. I sputtered a muffled 'ow', and pulled my head back. I ended up looking straight into the smiling face of a- I'll admit it- fairly handsome man. His lightly tanned skin glowed in the rising sunlight, and his curly dirty blonde hair was a messy crop of fly-aways. He must have been a foreigner.

He held me out at arm's length, removing his hand from my elbow to brush a loose pink lock away from my face. _That _little gesture brought me to the perimeter of my comfort zone. Usually Kukai was the only one I let do that. So feeling a bit weird, I shrunk away a bit, but smiled nonetheless.

"Um, thank you, for, you know, _stopping _me," I said to the man awkwardly. His smiled brightened about ten shades. I was going to go blind any minute if I kept staring at it.

"No problem," I felt him squeeze my arm. Way out of my comfort zone. "Stopping's what I do best."

Clearly he was hitting on me, and clearly I was not up for it. I slipped my arms out of his grasp and backed up. He just stepped forward.

"You know, I really should get going," I said, and jerked my thumb behind me with a sheepish look. "I've got a thing to attend to and I really can't miss this… thing." His smile faltered a bit, no longer blinding me. He grabbed my shoulder.

"Come on. I'm sure it wouldn't be so bad if you missed your… _thing._ Why don't you come hang with me instead?" I shook my head, and tried to pull away, but his grip was solid. "Come on, pinky, it'll be fun." It took me a minute to realize he was referring to my hair, and another for me to realize I didn't like it.

I yanked my arm away and shuffled backwards. "Sorry, but I can't," I mumbled, turning. I started to walk in the other direction but was again caught up by the arm. There was a vicious, hard yank and I was tugged backwards. I was pulled flush against the guys chest, back facing him. _Totally _and _completely _uncomfortable now, I began thrashing about and elbowing the guy. He just laughed.

"Why are you struggling so much? It's not gonna make much of a difference." Still resisting, I began to look around. Even though we were in the middle of the public, no one was stopping. Either they were all _really _cruel, or _really _stupid for not figuring out what was going on.

I kept looking, hoping to find someone or something that would be of some assistance. _Come __on__… __come __on__… __Oh, __there! _My eyes connected with the sight of Central Station, not even two blocks away. Maybe Kukai was already there. Maybe not… Well, it didn't hurt to try, did it?

I inhaled deeply, and with every ounce of my weight and strength I gave a hard shove backwards. The man grunted in surprise as he was sent tumbling away from me. I took this moment to run- and I mean _run._

Pushing and shoving my way through the crowds, I tried to lose the man within their masses. For once, I was grateful that Tokyo was such a crowed city.

When I was about half a block away, I spotted a familiar head of coppery locks. Running like mad towards the reassuring figure of my boyfriend, I felt a small peak of relief as I got closer to him. We were a good twenty feet away from each other when I felt yet another yank on my wrist. I was jerked to a stop, knowing all too well what had grabbed me. This man was just _too_persistent.

"Where you going pinky?" the guy hissed in a whispery tone into my ear. I shuddered, muttering several irritated but helpless 'shoot's and 'crap's as I tried to push away from the man from before. He just loved breaking my comfort zone, didn't he? "I think you owe me for, you know, _stopping _you earl-"

Suddenly, the whispering was replaced with a loud '_Oof!_', and the tight clamp the man had on my wrist was released. I stumbled away from him, bewildered for a moment. When I looked up, my eyes were granted the sight of Kukai, beating the snot out of the blonde.

After about thirty seconds, when the sensible circuits in my brain finally connected, I ran up to them, grabbing Kukai by the arm. A little less than willingly, I tried to pull him away from the man. "Kukai! _Kukai_, stop, I'm okay!" He just shrugged me off and continued to punch at Blondie. In between punches and staggered breathes, I heard him mutter the words 'don't… touch… my… girlfriend!'

For a scared moment, I glanced down at Blondie, who was now a heap on the ground. Bruises we beginning to form on the exposed areas of skin where Kukai had hit him, and his nose was bleeding. He looked so… vulnerable.

Despite how much I _hated_ the man, I had to put a stop to this. Again I reached for Kukai's arm, but this time I held firm, pulling hard as I practically screamed, "Kukai, _stop_!"

At the sound of my frantic cry, Kukai jerked, his fist in midair, poised for the next hit. It hung there for a moment- trembling as if it took all of Kukai's will power not to hit him- before it dropped to his side. He let go of the man and turned to face me, an unreadable expression on his face. Worried, but relieved, I walked up to him, hugging him tightly. Kukai hugged me back, before pulling away and reaching for my hand, which I gratefully let him take.

"Come on, Amu," he muttered, pulling me away from the heaped mess of a man that now lay on the ground. As he directed me towards Central Station, I stole a glance backwards, slightly regretful, but slightly not.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.

'_9:15 __Tokyo-Track __now __boarding_' a monotone voice came over on the intercom. Kukai handed me my ticket and we got in line to board the 9:15. As we slowly shuffled forward, I couldn't help but notice the awkward silence that had started up between us since the incident down the block. Although his expression was calm, there was something about him that told me he was anything but- maybe the rigidness of his shoulders, or the tension in the air that surrounded him. Whatever it was, I could tell he wasn't as relaxed as he was trying to seem.

By the time we finally took our seats on the train, my patience had worn thin. I had to do something to get Kukai to talk, or laugh or _for __God__'__s __sake _cry even! Just something! While he sat there staring blankly out the window, I was sitting there trying to think up _some_sort of conversation starter.

"Um… it's really nice out today, right Kukai?" I said, forcing my tone to be light and cheery while I used what was probably the oldest line in the big book of conversation starters.

Not once did he glance away from the window when he replied, "Yeah, sure… it's beautiful."

I huffed slightly at his reaction. He was really out of it. "Well, I sure think so. I'm glad you got me to cut class today. I would've missed out on this great-"

Suddenly he turned away from the window, snapping his now angry gaze towards me. "You're _glad_?" he asked in an incredulous tone, effectively cutting me off. "Glad that, because of me, you were nearly molested by some stranger?"

Now I really huffed, starting to get a little angry as well. "Who's to say I was going to be molested? And even if I was, _you _were there to help me!" I yelled back at him, effectively drawing the attention of a few other passengers on the train. Oh well. When you screamed out something like that, it was bound to draw attention.

"It _happened_because of me!" Kukai yelled back before turning to glare out the window some more. I crossed my arms over my chest.

"It _happened_because of that man. It was no one's fault but his own, and he got what he deserved…" as soon as the words left my mouth, an idea popped into my head. "Because _you_, Kukai, beat him up…" I looked up to see my boyfriend's reaction. He hadn't turned away from the window, but he definitely wasn't glaring anymore, which was a sign, a good sign. So I kept going. "…You know, because you're just that awesome and all…"

I might have loved Kukai, but he was far from perfect. And one of his major flaws was his bigheadedness towards praise. But I was going to use that weakness to my advantage in that situation. I glanced at him again, only to find him looking nonchalantly, or trying to at least, back at me. "Awesome?" a small smile was beginning to tug at the corner of his lips. I sighed, a little dramatically.

"Yeah, it probably would've been _a __lot _worse if my _awesome _boyfriend weren't there to help…" I emphasized the words 'a lot' and 'awesome' just to see if he could figure out that I was messing with him. Apparently, he had, because all traces of nonchalance had left Kukai's face and he was now looking at me with a sly grin.

"I get it, okay?" he said, turning to face me completely. "Stop messing with me already." I muttered a happy 'okay' and then gave him a satisfactory grin. "…So it wasn't _entirely _my fault."

The smile dropped from my face as I glared at him, to which he responded with a roll of his eyes and a 'back off' gesture. "_Okay_, it wasn't my fault. Are you happy?"

I nodded, smiling again. "Very." Kukai sighed.

The tugging feeling of the train rumbling to a start beneath us nearly startled me out of my seat. As we pulled out of the station, I looked out the window and couldn't help but wonder for the first time where we were going. I looked back at Kukai.

"So where, exactly, is this train taking us?" I asked, trying to think up all of the places he might take me that involved my swimsuit.

Kukai just smiled back at me amusedly before replying, "You'll see."


	5. The Proposal

"C-c-c-_cold_!"

As I stood and watched Amu wade into the blue-ish depths of Tokyo Bay, I couldn't help but laugh. Every step she took was followed by a rigid, trembling jerk of her foot out of the water, as if she were retaliating from stepping on broken glass. Was the water really that cold?

"Oh come on, I'm sure it's not that bad," I teased from my spot on the sandy shore. As my shirt slipped over my back and my sandals were kicked from my feet, I sighed, smiling in content relief when the warm sun hit my bear back and toes. "I think you're just being a baby."

Amu glared at me from her place in the water, still shivering. "F-fine. Why don't you get in, then?" The smile dropped from my face and she smirked. "What? Are you sc-scared?"

I huffed indignantly. "No!" there was _no_way I was going to let Amu, Hinamori Amu, make a fool out of me, albeit she was my girlfriend.

Amu's smirk just deepened. "Then _get__in_," she said in a challenging tone. I grumbled to myself. She was so competitive. Why? I had no idea. But- I was not going to back down from her challenge, so I made my way down the shore to the 'cold' water. I looked at it hesitantly for a moment, but just a moment, because my resolve was firmed when I caught another amused glance from my girlfriend. Deciding the best way to go about this was to just get it over with, I plunged in, all hesitation from before gone. Water rushed up to meet me, and I hit the surface with a cold _slap_! I swear, it was one of the worst feelings I had ever experienced! Amu was right, the water was cold, but as I rose to the surface, I composed myself, determined not to give her the satisfaction she was seeking. I'm a cruel boyfriend, I know. But if she was going to be competitive, then so was I.

My head popped up out of the water, sporting what I hoped was a believable grin. For the moment, it was. But then Amu spoke. "Well?" she questioned patronizingly.

When I answered my voice betrayed my motives. I tried to speak in a steady, nonchalant tone, but that is not how the words came out. "I-I-I'm t-totally f-f-f-fine… i-it's totally f-fine. Nice and w-warm…" I watched as my girlfriend's face contorted in hysteria. She burst out laughing, falling backwards into the penguin-worthy water. Effect of immediately, Amu shot back up, screeching though her chattering teeth as she clutched her soaking wet arms. I could've sworn the little droplets rolling off her skin were freezing in place.

We stared at each other, green meeting gold. I watched as a smile split Amu's face, just knowing that one was creeping up on my own as well. The two of us burst out laughing- though it came out as more of a giggling chatter because we we're shivering so hard. I clutched my sides, afraid my ribcage would break from the way my heaving lungs were pounding on it.

"You- you shoulda seen y-your face!" I exclaimed loudly, teeth still chittering. "Your eyes were HUGE when you fell backwards! It was t-totally priceless!"

"Me?" Amu asked incredulously, wiping exasperated tears and salty sea water from her face. "What about _you_? You looked flat-out flabbergasted when I hit the water!"

More laughs threatened to burst from my airway at her choice of words. Using my hand to cover my mouth, and trying my absolute hardest not to crack a rib, I muttered, "Flabbergasted? I never thought I'd live to see the day when Hinamori Amu used a word like _flabbergasted._" Steadying my breathing, I used the back of my hand to wipe my own tears of laughter from my face.

"Why? It's a creative word! One creative people use!" Amu protested, and I looked at her with a teasing smile.

"Then why are you using it?"

Amu's mouth dropped at my statement, practically hitting the watery surface below her, and she scoffed. "How _dare_you!" she waded through the freezing water towards me, and I stepped back, suddenly terrified of the pink haired girl standing before me. And as she gave what could have perhaps the evilest grin… ever, I couldn't help but wonder if I had gone just a little too far with that last comment.

"W-what are you doing, Amu?" I asked with a sheepish smile. The two of us continued to inch backward in the water, me at a more desperate speed than her.

"What's the matter Kukai?" she asked deviously, her evil shrinking into a smaller, sweeter, which

I have to admit was probably a lot scarier than the first given the situation. "Why are you so afraid of your own girlfriend?"

Slowly, I started to turn left, angling myself towards the shore. "Because when she's mad, my girlfriend can be scary as _heck_!" To Amu's surprise, I bolted for the beach, scrambling up the sand bar to its safe grounds. Amu may have been speedy in water, but on land, there was no way she could catch me. As soon as my feet hit dry sand, I was gone; already making my way down the shores of Tokyo Bay.

"H-hey! Get back here!" I heard Amu yell from behind me. From the corner of my eye it could be seen that she was now out of the water as well, and trying hard to catch up to me. She was running pretty fast, but not fast enough.

Suddenly, I got an idea. I slowed down just a bit, allowing her slight room to catch up. Noting this change in pace, Amu poured on the speed, exactly what I expected her to do. I smirked, and when she was about three feet behind me I quickly shifted to the left. Amu's eyes went wide when she realized, just a little too late, what had happened, and she zipped right past me.

I had to laugh out loud (no, I will _not _say LOL) at her reaction as I turned around and started running in the other direction. After a couple of seconds, Amu recovered from her mistake and turned around too, chasing after me once again. At this point, it was probably around 11:30 in the morning, and other people had begun to show up at the beach. The spastic up-kicks of sand that Amu and I produced as we ran along the shore came as a not-so-pleasant surprise to those who had already settled in.

This probably went on for a good ten minutes or so. Or at least until Amu got so tired she nearly passed out. So we decided to cool down and eat some packed lunches, considering we were both _starving_.

After that we just sort of hung out on the beach and relaxed. When the sun got a little higher in the sky, the water warmed up a bit, and we were finally able to handle swimming in it for longer periods of time. The two of us happened to be wading around in the shallows when 3:00 rolled around, and I realized we'd already been at the beach for a little over four hours. As much as I wanted to stay, I still had a lot more planned for the day, and swimming for too long would have just served to wear Amu and I out. So when my girlfriend's head broke the surface of the water, a smile on her face, I smiled right back.

"You enjoying the water?" I asked her, and she nodded back.

"Yeah," she replied, "I can actually feel my toes now," and through the wavering sloshes of the water I was able to see her wiggle them in the sand.

"Well, that's good," I said, standing up from the crouching position I had been in while sitting in the shallows, "because we're going to be doing a little bit of walking."

Amu stood up as well, giving me a questioning look in the process. Wringing her hair out, she asked, "Where else are we going?" and my smile widened.

"Somewhere fun, of course!"

After leaving the beach, Amu and I walked for about fifteen minutes down little dirt path surrounded by trees on both sides just along the outskirts of Honshu. The path ended at a larger, gravel road, which opened up to worn lot of land. Amu, who was walking behind me, didn't notice what lay ahead in front of us until I moved out of her way. When I did, she gasped, stepping in front of me. "Oh… my… freakin'… God…" She flipped back around to face me. "Nuh-uh!"

I gave her a half-smirk-half-smile kind of look, proud of a job well done, and just said, "Uh-huh." Certainly, the lot wasn't empty. It was filled up with rows upon rows of booths, stands and tables, each displaying a different type of work, piece, art, and the likes. I had brought Amu to an art fair.

"But… you hate art fairs!" she stammered in surprise, despite the excited look in her eye. I just shrugged at her, walking ahead and making my way towards the lot.

"Well, they're not my favorite thing…" I said as Amu caught up to me, more than ready to hit the fair, "But I know you absolutely _love_them, so I figured we could go see one together. Plus it was right down the street from the beach," I held out my hand to her, "so come on." Amu grasped it tightly and we ran the rest of the way there, hand-in-hand, like some couple from an old 70's movie.

When we reached the lot, Amu immediately set out for a photography stand, my hand still being locked in hers, dragging me with her. She apparently found a suitable booth, because she stopped at one run by a friendly looking old woman who had black and white landscape scenes framed and posted all over the walls and counter. Amu started to pick a few up, examining and looking them over with a critical eye. Setting down the rest, she held a small photo, framed in mahogany, out to me.

"What do you think about this one?" She asked, glancing back and forth between it and the others. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"For what?" I asked. I honestly had no idea what she was asking about, but Amu rolled her eyes as if it was obvious.

"For our apartment, silly," she replied to my question, picking up another photo and comparing it to the one she had shown me. "I think it needs a little more décor, something to bring the place together a bit more…" I just shrugged in response.

"Um, not to disappoint you Amu, but I'm really not the kind of person you should rely on for this kind of thing… but if it helps at all, I think it's a very pretty picture." She just sighed and set the pictures down.

"I guess I'm on my own then." Amu moved away from the photo stand and began looking around some more. I followed behind her. We passed by many tables, stopping at some, completely bypassing others. Every once in awhile Amu would talk with the craftsmen at the tables, sharing tid-bits and ideas. Overall, she seemed to be enjoying herself.

But I was pretty much excluded from the entire experience; at least, until we came upon a certain table. When we reached it, Amu and I both stared at it with interest. The man working it looked to be about our age, maybe slightly older. He had midnight blue hair and sapphire eyes and probably one of the most intimidating smirks you'll ever see. Looking past the man, I glanced at his work. He was surrounded by portraits, colorful, lively, beautiful portraits that captured the feelings and movement of the people in them- and they were all painted. Not a single one was photographed, though every single one appeared to be.

I turned to look at Amu, who seemed to be in shock from looking at the pictures. Her mouth was hanging open and her gaze was shifting from picture to picture, taking in each and every one. Seeing as she probably wouldn't be speaking any time soon, I did the honors.

"Um, excuse me?" I asked the man, who at the time had been turned to a canvas.

He looked at me from the corner of his eye. "Yes?"

"Did you really paint all of these? They're incredible…" I was finding it very difficult not to stare at the paintings. I'm pretty sure the man took notice of this, because his smirk deepened.

"Yes, I did. Thanks." He stood up from the chair he had been sitting in and walked up to the front desk. It was now that I noticed the name and business tag he was wearing, pinned to his shirt.

_Tsukiyomi Ikuto; Official member of the EACU, Head of Portraits Division_

I blinked. "What in the world is EACU?" I asked, and Amu chose that moment to snap out of her little trance.

"EACU? You're a part of the EACU?" She asked excitedly. I shouldn't have been surprised. Tsukiyomi Ikuto nodded in response to her question.

Feeling a bit left out, again I asked, "What in the world is EACU?" Amu looked at me like I was crazy.

"It's an acronym for Easter Art Center and University. It is the most prestigious art school in all of Japan!" she turned to look back at the man. "And one of their official members is here!" After that she squealed, which she never does, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes. But apparently, Tsukiyomi found her girlish sound complimentary.

"I'm glad you think so highly of our corporation," he said with yet another smirk. "If you hadn't already read the tag, I'm head of the Portraits Division back at the Center. So, as you can see," he gestured to all of the paintings around him, "I do portraits."

I actually think Amu was hopping up and down in excitement from meeting this guy, which he also noticed.

"If you wanted me to, I could do a portrait of the two of you," he offered us, and I think Amu just about died right there. "It wouldn't be cheap, but I'd be willing to give a discount to such an enthusiastic fan of my corporation."

Amu immediately turned to me, hands clasped together and eyes wide and full of hope. I swear she looked like she was five years old. "Please Kukai?" She asked, her lip jutting out in a puppy dog pout. "Pretty, pretty pleeeaaaasse?" She held out that last please, just to ensure that I'd break, which I did. There was nothing, and I mean absolutely _nothing __on __this __earth_, that could stand up to Amu's puppy dog face.

"…Alright, alright, fine," I said. I wasn't actually very reluctant about it, considering it didn't seem like such a bad idea and I had been expecting to have to buy something for her the minute I walked onto the lot. Amu gave me a pleased smile as I pulled my wallet from my back pocket and turned to face Tsukiyomi. "So how much?"

For once, he dropped the smirk and gave me a genuine smile. "We can talk about that later. For now, why don't you come out back and I'll get you guys set up for the portrait?" I nodded and Amu gave a happy 'okay' and the three of us slipped behind the booth to the landscape behind it.

The area seemed like a decent place for a painting background; shaded by the trees, letting in just enough sunlight, a nice view of the beach right behind it all.

Tsukiyomi had us sit propped up against one of the trees, holding hands and leaning heads on each other's shoulder. He set up an easel and a table to hold his paints, grabbed a fresh canvas and got to work.

In all, the painting took a good hour and a half to finish. By the time we were done, my hand was sweaty from holding Amu's, and my neck was stiff and had a crick from leaning. But in the end, Amu seemed pretty happy, and was definitely excited to see the painting, so I was happy too. She shot up from her place against the tree, and ran over to Tsukiyomi's table to look, dragging me with her. Tsukiyomi carefully removed the canvas from the easel and set it down so that we could look- and what we saw was breathtaking.

It was in black and white, but the feelings emitted from the pictures colored the painting themselves. Every detail was perfect; from the light filtering through the trees onto our skin, to the gleam of the sun on the white-capped waves of the ocean behind us. But the thing that really caught my attention, was Amu. Somehow, Tsukiyomi had managed to capture the sparkle in her eyes, the pinkness of her hair even though it was grey, the kind edge that always tipped her smiles. The painting was nothing short of incredible.

"This… is freakin' amazing…" I muttered as my eyes drank up the sight of the work of art before me. After seeing Amu's open mouth, I realized that mine too was hanging somewhere near the floor.

"I love it," She whispered, and we both turned to look at Tsukiyomi. His smirk told me that he was pleased with our reactions. He picked up his paints and brushes and handed them to Amu.

"Can you take these back to the booth for me? And while you're at it, why don't you pick out a frame for the picture, since I'm sure you'll be the one doing it in the end. The size is 16x12." She gladly took the brushes from him, excitedly running back to the booth with them in hand. As I watched her, I couldn't help but smile. I stood there for a couple of seconds, smiling like an idiot until Tsukiyomi spoke. "You're a lucky man, you know that?"

I faced him again. "Yeah I know; she really is special…" He just nodded. "I was actually planning on asking her to marry me today…"

Tsukiyomi looked at me with his sapphire eyes, and there was some unplaceable emotion in them. "She'll be happy. She really loves you," he said picking up the painting from the table and handing it to me. "It was obvious when I was painting you two."

I was shocked by his words, but it was a pleasant shock. I glanced at the painting, then back at him. "So… how much do I owe you now?"

Tsukiyomi contemplated the question in his head for a bit. Eventually, he turned to me with another genuine smile and said, "Just take it. Free of charge."

I looked at him with wide eyes. "Wow. That is a _much _bigger discount than I had expected." I looked down at the painting, that amazing painting. "…Nah, man, I couldn't do that. I gotta give you something for this." Tsukiyomi just shook his head, still smiling.

"Think of it as an early wedding present. And yeah, I _know _she's gonna say yes."

Bye the time Amu had picked out a frame, we had left the art fair, and had grabbed some dinner, it was actually around 6:00. We ate at a small local ramen shop, _my _fun for the day, where we could talk about everything. It was really nice, nothing like the crazy ramen eating contests Utau and I had- because Amu wasn't into that sorta thing- but quiet and easygoing, which was good sometimes.

"I'm really glad you got me to take the day off," Amu admitted while I was in the middle of eating what was probably my third bowl of ramen. I set down my fork and smiled at her.

"I'm glad that you had fun," I told her, and she smiled too. "You seemed to be overworking yourself a bit lately, so I thought you needed it."

Okay, so maybe that wasn't whole truth as to why I wanted her to take the day off. Like I told Tsukiyomi, I _was _going to propose to her today. But it was true. She did need a break. Just a small one. What with having both work and classes almost every day, Amu was practically working herself over the edge. A day off was in order.

After we finished eating, we left the ramen shop and walked back to the train station. The two of us hopped on the 6:45 and headed back to Tokyo. The ride was quiet; there weren't many people riding along with us, and Amu and I were pretty much beat, so we slept for a good portion of the hour and twenty minute ride. When we arrived at Central Station, I roused Amu so we could get off. She was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes when we left the building.

"Are we going home now?" she asked groggily. I scoffed jokingly, as if the answer to her question was obvious.

"Of course not! We still have one more place to go before the day is done," I replied, grabbing her by the hand and dragging her across the street and away from the station. At the sudden jolt, she woke up a bit more and actually started walking instead of dragging behind me.

"So… where are we going?" she asked, looking around for anything exciting or entertaining that might be the answer to her question. I smiled at her curiosity.

"You'll see."

We walked a couple more blocks and were just about at our destination when Amu started complaining. "Kukai, how much more are we gonna walk?" I just rolled my eyes.

"If you were paying attention, you'd know that we were already here," I said, and stopped walking. Amu stopped to, and when she realized where we were, gasped, for like the umpteenth time today. It was almost comical.

I had brought her to the park, the one where we had met for the very first time, the one that we hadn't been to together in the longest time. The place was deserted, being so late out, but the street lamps were lit, giving a beautiful glow to the place, and the stars were out, just adding to the effect. Amu turned to look at me. "Kukai, why are we here?" she asked.

"What, I can't take my girlfriend on a date to the park?" I asked with a grin, signaling for her to follow me. "Come on."

We moved up to the platform in the center of the park, which was pitch black. I sat down on a bench- the very same one we sat on when we first met- and Amu sat next to me. She seemed happy, but also hesitant. "What's up?" I asked.

"You never answered my question, Kukai," she said. "So, why are we here?"

I sighed. "So impatient. Doesn't want to take the time to enjoy the moment…" Amu gave me a questioning look, and I just grinned and turned towards the center platform. I whistled, hitting a high pitch, then going lower, then back to the higher one. It was a signaling whistle. "Hey guys!"

Suddenly, the lights on the platform came to life, lighting up the stage in a hue of colors. The sudden illumination revealed that we were not the only ones in the park after all. Standing on the platform was the band that had played for us on the day that we met. Just like that time, the drummer started off with a few clicks of his sticks, and then the rest of the band kicked in, throwing Amu and I into a wave of music. Her mouth dropped to the floor as I stood up and offered her my hand, which she instantly took.

"What in the… how did you…?" she muttered as I pulled her over to the platform. Because she was so stunned, I had to guide her as we danced, which I might admit didn't work out too well; but I don't think she noticed. Instead she just looked at me with bewilderment. I just shrugged.

"I pulled a few strings; made a couple calls," though it wasn't very specific, I guess my answer was good enough for her because she started dancing on her own now. The band played the same songs that they had almost three years ago, in the same order.

"Kukai, this is incredible!" Amu exclaimed in amazement as the two of us continued to dance together. And she was right, it was amazing. It was just the two of us- minus the band- dancing and having fun and listening to the music and enjoying each other's company. It was just as good as, if not better than, the day we first met. And the best part was that Amu couldn't stop smiling.

When a slower song came on, Amu and I stopped to take a break from dancing and headed back over to the bench. We sat down and I glanced at the singer of the band as a signal for them to get ready. She gave a small nod in return, looking back at the other members of the band, letting them know to be prepared for the next song.

"…This was really fun, Kukai," Amu said with a small laugh. "You know, this is _almost __exactly _like the night we first met…" I cocked my head at her in confusion. Had I missed something? Did I forget something that she hadn't? Was this gonna mess this up?

"'Almost'?" I asked, wanting to know what it was I had missed. Amu nodded.

"Yeah. Everything's here but… the lemonade," she replied, seeming kinda disappointed. I almost passed out I was so relieved. If I had screwed something _that _big up on a day like today, I would never be able to forgive myself. Instead, I just chuckled.

"Oh, that," I replied calmly, "I didn't forget that." Now she looked at me in confusion. Grinning at her response, I turned around and grabbed the bag I had brought with me for the day, which was sitting next to me on the bench. I unzipped the front pouch and pulled out two items, hiding them behind my back before she could see them.

I stood up from the bench and moved in front of Amu. At my gesture, the band changed songs completely, and judging by the look on her face, surprising Amu in the process. The song that was playing was still a slow song, but it was different. It wasn't in the list of songs that had been played when the two of us had first heard the band, and instead of being a somewhat sad piece, it was happier and more emotional. Perfect for the moment.

"Amu, we've been together for almost three years now…" I started up, and when I glanced at Amu she gave me a wary look back. "And this is where it all started. Since then, our relationship has progressed so much. I mean, just look at where we are now! You're my girlfriend, but you're more than that; Amu, you're my best friend."

At this point, I think she was getting teary-eyed, possibly starting to realize what was going on, because her golden eyes looked even brighter than normal.

"You're someone I've come to rely on and need, and I hope that you feel the same way about me that I feel about you…" Stopping my speech, I pulled my left hand from behind my back. In it was the lemonade can from three years ago. "And I know this is really cheesy, but, Amu you are a part of my past- _this _past," I held the bottle up in gesture, "And I hope you will help me to create _this _future…"

Handing her the can, I got down on one knee and pulled the other object from behind my back. It was the small mahogany box I had bought about two weeks ago, now fixed and perfectly polished. When Amu saw it she gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. I opened the box, revealing the diamond and mystic topaz treasure that hid inside. "Amu, will you marry me?"

Full-blown tears were streaming from Amu's eyes and down her cheeks now. She smiled. I expected her to say yes, or just nod, but she did something completely unexpected. She stood up from the bench, and next thing I knew, my back was to the ground, Amu's arms around me in a tight hug. She nodded into my chest and muttered a muffled, 'Yes!'

From my spot on the ground, I could hear the loud clapping of the members of the band, who had just finished up their song. I sat up, Amu on my lap, and turned to them with a smile. Giving them a thumbs up, I yelled "Thanks!"

Instead of saying 'you're welcome', or cheering, they all started pointing to their fingers and began yelling, "The ring! Put the ring on her finger!" I smiled, and Amu and I stood up. I was about to grab the ring from the box and place it on her finger, but it was gone! _Again! _The box was empty!

"Holy-!" I yelled, and immediately began searching the ground for the ring.

"What happened?" Amu asked, kneeling down next to me. I looked up at her frantically.

"The ring! The freakin' ring! It must've rolled out of the box when you knocked me down!" Eyes wide, Amu began scrambling around, looking for it as well. "Where the heck could it-"

"Hey!" At the sudden intone, I looked up from the ground. I turned to the band members, specifically the singer, because I had recognized the shout as her voice. When she saw she had my attention, she jerked her thumb at the keyboardist. I looked to him and my eyes widened. His thumb and index finger were pinched together, and in between them was Amu's engagement ring!

"When did it…" I muttered, and they all just smiled deviously.

"You realize he's had that ever since she knocked you over, and the only reason we told you to put it on her finger was so that we could see how you'd react, right?" the bass player asked, and when I looked past her I could see that the other band members were trying hard not to laugh. For a second, I just blinked at them, but then I burst out laughing. They followed suit and soon, Amu was giggling as well.

"I can't _believe _that happened…" I said, thinking back to the other week when I dropped the ring out the window. I wiped a stray tear from my eye as I walked up to the keyboardist, taking the ring from him when he handed it to me. I motioned Amu over.

When we were standing together, I picked up her left hand. Flipping the ring over in my palm, I moved it between my thumb and pointer, and slid it onto Amu's finger. As soon as it was on, she threw herself at me again, and kissed me.

The entire band began cheering, screaming and clapping. We pulled apart, but I kept my arm around her shoulder. "So, uh, I guess you're glad you took the day off, aren't you?" I asked Amu. She just smiled in return.

"Well _duh_!"


	6. The News Part I

It was Saturday morning, and I was back at my parents' house for the weekend. Normally I would stay in the apartment I shared with Kukai, or in the dorms at the University. But today I was back in Seiyo, giving my family a long overdue visit. Plus, I was planning on breaking the news to them today.

After I brought my things up to my old bedroom, I headed back down to the kitchen to help my mom out with breakfast. Er, at least, help her set the table for it. Even now, when I was older, she wouldn't let me get near the stove or even the microwave. Cooking was my fatal flaw. The only time I was able to cook a decent meal was when a miracle rolled around and I didn't blow up the oven in the process of making dinner. This rarely happened.

"Amu, you remember where the silverware is, right?" My mom asked from her place at the stove. She was busy making Dad's omelet and our pancakes. Ami was at that age where she hardly ate anything in order to maintain her figure so she was skipping out on breakfast, despite Mom's pleading.

"Yeah, Mom, I remember. I haven't been gone that long," I called back. I walked over to the drawer to the right of the fridge and opened it. Grabbing a fork and knife for the three of us, I closed the drawer back up and moved over to the kitchen table. Plates had already been set out, so placement was easy. After that was done, I grabbed a napkin and a cup for each of us and set them up as well.

"Honey, could you call for your father? Breakfast's ready," my mom asked when I was done placing the table. I nodded and moved to the kitchen doorway.

"Dad! Breakfast is ready!" I yelled, and then swung back into the kitchen. Taking my seat at the table, I waited for everyone else to be seated before I began eating. When Dad walked into the kitchen, I was surprised to see Ami tailing behind him. "You actually gonna eat, princess?"

Princess was the nickname I had been calling Ami since she started the 'rebellious stage' of her life. I mean, don't get me wrong, she was still a good kid and all, with a lot less attitude than most children her age, but the name just seemed to fit. It wasn't meant to be offensive in any way- and she certainly didn't see it like that- it was just teasing; a joke between sisters.

Ami shook her head and smiled. "Nah, I just came down to say hi." I gave her a surprised look. She _rarely _got up before 10:00 in the morning on a Sunday, and right now it was only 7:45. This was a sight to behold.

"O-kay then…" I said awkwardly, but motioned for her to come over nonetheless. "Why don't you come and sit down anyways. I've got something I wanna share with you all." She obediently came and sat, and when mom finally took her place as well, we all, excluding Ami, began eating with a happy 'Itadakimasu!'

As I bit into the first pancake, I couldn't help but notice Ami's longing stare at the rest that were sitting on my plate. I glanced down at them and counted… _1 2…4…6… _there was no way I was gonna eat six whole pancakes. Taking another bite from the one I was currently eating, I slid the plate across the table to where she was sitting. When it reached her, Ami looked up at me and blinked.

"Oh… no thanks, Onee-chan, I'm not hungry," she said, holding her hands out in front of her. She was about to slide the plate back, but I held out my arm and stopped it before she could. After I finished chewing and swallowing, I turned to her with a look of nonchalance, even though I really wanted her to eat something. Old habits die hard.

"I don't think _one_ will hurt you," I told her, taking yet another bite from my own pancake. "It doesn't have so many carbs that it will mess up your figure, or your complexion for that matter. So why not eat at least one?"

For a minute, Ami ponders over the idea. Even in a small town like Seiyo, especially when you go to Seiyo Academy, image is everything, considering how fast rumors spread around this place. Because of that, I could understand why she wanted to look her best, but that didn't mean she needed to starve herself in the process. I guess she, too, realized this, because in the end, she picked up a pancake and ate it- albeit plain and without syrup (there were some lines not meant to be crossed)- but still. I smiled at her and Mom smiled at me, happy that _someone _was able to get the girl to eat.

"So Amu, what was it that you wanted to tell us?" Mom asked, digging in to her own plate of pancakes, and causing me to nearly choke on mine.

"Onee-chan!" Ami yelled in surprise at my sudden coughing fit, practically jumping out of her seat. I took a drink of my milk to help the food pass and hacked a couple more times before I was good. I had totally forgotten about what I had wanted to tell them. I was too busy trying to get a pancake down Ami's throat.

I cleared my throat and put down my fork. "Uh, yeah, just about forgot there… Um, Mom, Dad, Ami…" I paused, partially for dramatic effect, partially because I really needed to pause. I glanced around the table and saw that all eyes were on me, waiting for what I was about to say. "I… am getting married."

_Crash!_

...Why did I expect that to happen?

"Y-you're _what_?" my dad yelled. When I turned to look at him, I saw that he had not only dropped his glass, but his newspaper as well, which had fallen to the floor in a scattered heap. He had been the first one to speak- or more like screech- after my little announcement.

"You're… getting married?" Then mom.

"Sweet! I'm gonna have an in-law!" Then Ami. "It's Kukai right? It's gotta be him!" I think I was most pleased with the princess's reaction. I chuckled a bit under my breath at it. Ami had always liked Kukai. Whenever he came over or when I let her visit the apartment, she would always hang around him and he would always take her places; to the park, or the mall, or the movies. The kid absolutely adored him.

Sheepishly, I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear and smiled. "Um, yeah, it's Kukai. He's my fiancé now… see?" I held out my left hand for them all to see, where the beautiful heart shaped diamond sat in all of its sparkling glory on my ring finger. It was surprising that none of them had noticed it earlier. I think the three sets of eyes that were ogling over it now nearly rolled out of the heads that they were sitting in. Again, I chuckled.

"That's quite a rock you got there, Amu…" my mom uttered, and I felt my face suddenly redden.

"Mom! That's not the point!" I yelled, and slid my arm back under the table so the three of them would stop staring at the ring. It was kind of embarrassing. Sure, it was normal for people to get excited over an engagement ring, but this was just ridiculous. At my gesture of embarrassment, Mom sat back in her chair, which she had been leaning forward in to get a better look at my finger, and smiled, wide-eyed.

"My daughter's getting married…" she said in an incredulous tone. Her smile widened, practically splitting her face it was so big. "My daughter's getting _married_!" I cringed at her outburst, and so did my dad. I could tell he was not taking this well, and that at any second, he might burst from staying quiet for so long. And mom's gushing was only serving to push him closer to the edge.

"Dad…" I started warily, "Are you okay?" For a second, he just sat staring down at the table, hands clasped firmly together underneath his own hardened gaze. I got up from my seat and moved over to his, standing next to him. When I put my hand on his shoulder, Dad looked away from his clenched fists and up at me.

Now, Dad had never been very thrilled about Kukai and me dating, or _anyone _and me dating for that matter. So I was _sure _the news of us getting married didn't exactly please him either. Which is why I was so surprised that I nearly fell over in shock when he smiled and said, "Congratulations, Amu. I'm happy for you!"

I just looked at him and blinked a couple of times, in complete shock. Instead of being angry, or upset, or even _devastated _for Pete's freaking sake! He was _happy_? Now this was something I never expected to happen in even a million years. My dad was just too weird. With a quick look around the kitchen table, I discovered that the princess and my mom were just as surprised with his reaction as I was. This was definitely out of the ordinary to all of us.

"You're… happy?" I asked, still completely astounded. My dad gave an eager nod in return.

"Of course I'm happy!" he said in an excited tone, smiling. I swear the man was practically glowing with pride and happiness. "Why would I not be?" Again, I stood and stared. But after a couple of seconds of warming up to the idea, I smiled back at him. Despite how… unusual this was, I was happy that he was okay with Kukai and me getting married.

"Well _that's _a relief," I said, hugging my dad. He hugged me back and soon, Mom and the princess joined in too. It was a nice little family moment, one we probably hadn't had in a while, but desperately missed and needed. What with me living with Kukai and Ami always out bettering her social life, opportunities for moments like these rarely came around. After a minute we broke up and all sat back down, tending to our breakfasts once again.

When we had all finished eating, we each set out to start on our own agendas for that Sunday. Dad started on some yard work; mowing the lawn, cleaning up the yard, fixing up the fence a bit. Basic stuff. While he was doing that, Mom was at the store getting groceries. She planned on having a big celebratory dinner tonight in honor of my engagement, despite how much I begged her not to, so she needed certain foods for certain dishes. And Ami had gone to the mall with some of her friends, undoubtedly to stalk boys and bat eyelashes at the cutest ones. Not exactly a taker after my own heart, but her being at the age of sixteen, what else would you be expecting her to do in her free time?

Of course, this all had to happen at the exact same time in the day, so I was practically at home alone. I mean, sure my dad was just outside, but he wouldn't be coming in anytime soon. Bored out of my mind, I decided to call up Rima. Surprisingly, she picked up on the first ring, and before I could even get a word out, she excitedly blurted into the phone, "_You told them, right? How'd they react? How did your _dad _react?_" I chuckled into the speaker, and instead replying to any of Rima's questions, I answered with one of my own.

"You've been waiting by the phone since I left Tokyo, haven't you? What time did you get up? I left the house at like 4:00 in the morning just so I could get here early. If you've been waiting for me, you must've gotten up not long after." At my statement, I could practically feel Rima roll her eyes through the phone.

"_Yeah, try just an hour later. And me not being much of a morning person, if I were you Amu, I would hurry up and answer my questions considering that- if I don't get the answers I woke up so early to get _soon_- you'll be dead by tomorrow night, I guarantee it. So hurry up and tell me what I wanna know!_" Despite the lack of energy in her voice, the woman was practically screaming into the phone. A cold jolt ran up my spine at Rima's words, and knowing her, she would most definitely hold me to that little promise of hers.

"Okay, okay! I'll tell you what you wanna know, though I don't see why it's such a great big deal," I sighed into the phone. "When I told them about it, they were all pretty much speechless, until I showed them the ring, at least. Then Mom couldn't stop making comments about how big it was- which, might I add, was _highly _embarrassing. Ami was practically jumping for joy at the fact that Kukai is gonna be her first in-law. And Dad… honestly did not take it the way either of us (or anyone, for that matter) expected him to…"

The line was silent for a few seconds as Rima pondered over what I said. "_What do you mean by 'not as we expected him to'? You mean he was actually _happy_?_" Her disbelief was etched clearly into her tone. Rima was hardly ever surprised. So the fact that she _was _surprisedwas even more surprising then _why _she was surprised. And yes, I _do _realize the base word 'surprise' was in that sentence at least three times.

"Try almost ecstatic," I said into the phone. "He smiled so brightly at the news of me getting married he nearly blinded us all." Rima was about to respond to my statement when the sound of a sequence to two _beeps _cut her off before she could even get a word out. The beeping was a signal that another person was calling me. My caller ID read _Hoshina, Utau 713-5743. _Pressing the 'talk' button, I prepared myself for the spiel of randomness and loud words I knew she was capable of producing.

"_Yo Amu, you're at your parents house, right?_" were the first words that came out of Utau's mouth and out of the phone speaker and, I have to admit, I almost laughed at them. Boy, did my friends know how to make a greeting.

But since I didn't laugh, I just rolled my eyes in good humor, though I knew neither of them could see me do it. "Did the two of you forget how to greet someone when they pick up the phone," I started, "or are you both just that informal?" After my question, there are a couple seconds of pause coming from all three lines, until Utau breaks back in.

"_You _two_? You mean we're having a three-way? Who else is on the phone?_" Leave it to Utau to let the words I say, at least most of them, go in one ear a come out the other and completely by-pass a question in the process. The girl had a one track mind. I sighed into the receiver.

"Yes, you _two_. I was just talking to Rima." At the sound of the shorter blonde's shrill bark of my own name, I instantly regretted what I had said. Apparently, Rima had not wanted Utau to know they were sharing a line. Utau, on the other hand, seemed extremely pleased with the information.

"_Riiiiimmaaaa…_" she exaggerated the length of the other girl's name with in a nagging and teasing tone, "_Where's my fifty bucks, Rima? Come on shorty, you lost the bet, I want my money._" I raised an eyebrow. _What bet?_ I questioned in my head. But knowing the two of them, it would be over something really stupid. I was about to ask them, but Rima jumped back into the conversation before I could.

"_Don't call me that!_" she screeched, and I had to pull the phone away from my ear for what was the first and probably not the last time during the conversation. These girls were just so _loud_!

I heard Utau chuckle over the sound of Rima's rant-filled nothings. "_Struck a nerve there, didn't I?_" She was smirking. Totally and completely smirking right then. And if the two of them had been in the same room at that time, I'm sure Rima would've probably ripped Utau's face off because of it.

"Utau," I warned, "You had best shut yourself up before Rima does it for you."

"_Oh, come on Amu. What's the worst the elf can do to me?_"

"_I'm sure you'd love to find out, wouldn't you, pigtails._"

At their last few comments, my patience snapped. "WILL YOU BOTH JUST _SHUT UP _ALREADY? I MEAN, MY _GOD_!" My screams bounced off my bedroom walls and echoed a few times before dying off. They were so loud I could barely hear myself think. When they had both quieted down, I sighed before voicing my previous thoughts. "So what, exactly, was it you two were betting on?" When they both started shouting again, I swear, a vain in my forehead began throbbing, because it certainly felt like one had. "_One at a time!_" They finally shut up after that.

"_Your ring_," Rima said after a few more seconds of their silence. I cocked an eyebrow at her reply.

"What?" I asked, and Utau snorted, but at me instead of Rima for once.

"_Your engagement ring, ya goofball!_" Utau said. Usually, I would have been at least mockingly offended by her name calling, but I was too distracted by everything else she said."_We were betting over which one Kukai would buy you; and of course, he got the one _I _suggested. So, as I said before, Rima, I want my fifty bucks!_"

"_Shut up, I heard you the first time_," Rima grumbled back. She and Utau started arguing again, just not to the same extreme as before, while I just sat a little bit dumbfounded for a minute. But after that minute, I wasn't too surprised to find a smile spreading across my face. It wasn't long before I burst out laughing altogether. Again, Rima and Utau went silent on the other lines. "_…Something wrong?_"

I shook my head, even though the two couldn't see me. "You guys are insane, betting over something like that…" I felt my smile soften at the thought, "but you know, hearing that you did makes me feel… happy."

Utau and Rima may have been arguing over the ring for their own purposes, but I could tell there was more to it than just that. I could tell that this, their picking and betting over my engagement ring, was just their own strange way of trying to ensure that I would be happy with it.


	7. The News Part II

"So let me get this straight… you asked her to _marry you_…?" The lack of understanding in Unkai's voice and the looks that matched it on the faces of my other brothers were almost enough to make me scream. Key word _almost_. I had lived with these people all my life, so I had learned not to expect the most normal of reactions from them.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't you speak Japanese?" I asked them. "That's exactly what I said, isn't it?"

This weekend both Amu and I left Tokyo to visit our parents and families. We had planned to break the news to them separately, since at the time, I hadn't been on the greatest terms with her dad, and she had so far only met my parents and Shusui. The two of us had figured it would be easier to tell our families without the pressure of having to handle their immediate opinions on our fiancés.

"Well I, for one, am actually not all that surprised," Shusui broke into the silence that had started to build up since I confirmed Unkai's inquiring. "I mean, she's the first girl I've seen him be so serious about since that Utau chick."

Yes, he's talking about _the _Utau, and yes, we did used to date. Back in high school actually. Though it was only for about a year and, clearly, it didn't work out. But because of that, we became great friends and I'm glad things turned out the way they did. It could've been a lot worse, Utau being the not-so-forgiving type and all. If she hadn't agreed with my decision for us to stop dating, well, let's just say I wouldn't be announcing my engagement to Amu today, for more than one reason (Let you interpret that information as you will).

"Honestly, I didn't even know you were dating anyone," Rento said as he got up from his seat at the kitchen island and walked over to the pantry. He pulled a new bag of kabocha chips out and opened it up. After popping some of them in his mouth, he walked back over and thoughtfully chewed for a minute. "How come I've never heard of her?" he asked around a mouthful of kabocha.

I had always meant to get around to bringing Amu home, but it just never happened. She always had classes or I always had a game or practice. The only reason she was given the chance to meet my parents and Shusui was because Mom and Dad decided to pop by our house unannounced one weekend and he just happened to be tagging along with them.

"Well I've heard of her, I've just never met her," Unkai said, stealing a handful of chips from Rento's bag.

Probably about three or four months after I had met Amu, I called home once to talk to my parents about college and how it was going (they liked to keep updated on what they were helping to pay for), but Unkai had happened to pick up the phone. I hadn't seen him in a while, so we got into one of those 'Hey-how-have-you-been-what's-going-on' conversations, and I ended up telling him about Amu. We had only just started dating at that time, so the news of us getting married now must've been a shock for him.

"So, Kukai, how come you've never brought your _fiancé _home?" Rento asked with an accusing tone. I could tell he was just joking around, but if he was going to poke fun at me, I was going to poke back.

"Gee, I don't know. Maybe it's because _you're _all here?" Of course, that wasn't necessarily true. They all had places of their own, so they didn't still live with our parents- Kaido and Shusui even had kids- but they all lived so much closer than I did, so they got to visit more often. That, and they were a bunch of free loaders who liked to mooch off Mom and Dad. "'Cause if you ask me, that's a pretty good reason not t-"

"Oi, ya runt, did you just talk back?" Kaido broke in, effectively cutting me off. I swallowed nervously at the threating tone of his voice. Slowly, I turned my gaze to Kiado, who hadn't said a word about this whole thing up until now.

"Who are you calling a runt?" I asked back, giving him a hard glare that matched his own. I smirked. "I'm twenty four years old and out of the house. You can't boss me around anymore." Kaido just smirked right back at me.

"Ah, you think so?" The look in his eye was amused but in a deadly sort of way. I ignored it for the time being.

"I know so. And even if you wanted to face off now, I wouldn't let you because we're talking about something important," I said sternly, letting the smirk drop from my face. I was telling my brothers some serious news and they were definitely _not _reacting in the right way. Then again, nothing was right about these four. After hearing me say that, Kaido's expression changed as well.

"I know that," he said calmly, which honestly surprised me. "I know that this is serious, and that's why I'm worried about whether a runt like you is ready for something as big as getting married."

Now that made me a bit upset. "I _told _you that I wasn't a runt! Amu and I have been dating for three years now. Three! Shusui only dated Jun for about two and he got married when he was twenty _one_! If he was ready then, I think I'm ready _now_." The Jun woman was Shusui's wife and the two of them had been together since about 11 years ago, when I was still in middle school.

Kaido chuckled at my response. "The fact that you reacted like that only makes me doubt you more. Kukai, you may be twenty four, but that doesn't mean you're not still a kid." I was about to pout at what he said, but I was trying to prove a point here, so I stopped myself before I could. Instead, I rolled my eyes, which might not have been much better.

"Kaido, I'm _not _a kid and I _am _serious. I love Amu and am ready to marry her." The words did sound a bit foreign coming out of my mouth, because, despite my saying, Kaido was a little bit right. No, I wasn't a _total _kid, but I wasn't a total adult either. I just had a… kid-_ish_ personality. That didn't mean I wasn't ready to get married, it just meant I would have more fun with it than most people.

"Prove it," Kaido said matter-o-factly. It almost didn't sound right at first, and I muttered a questioning 'Excuse me?' back to my oldest brother. He just smirked. "Prove how much you love her. I want you to call her up right now, and tell her just how much you love her in front of the four of us."

I gave him a disbelieving look, and he just gave me an expectant one in return. My other three brothers had varying expressions of curiosity and amusement on their faces. If I had a _normal _family, I could've just said no and the subject would've probably dropped. But seeing as this was _my _family, if I turned Kaido down, not only would I have suffered a severe blow to my pride, but to my gut as well. Harshly, I mumbled, "Fine," before begrudgingly pulling my phone from my pocket. Just as I was about to dial Amu's cell number, Rento stopped me.

"Wait!" he yelled, and we all looked at him. "_That's_ not a good enough way to get him to prove how much he loves her. It's gotta be more challenging than that. Something a little more embarrassing…" My gaze turned hostile as I watched Rento think up something even more horrible to make me do. "Oh! I got it! How 'bout we tell him what to say to her!"

_NO!_

A look of wickedness crossed the faces of my four brothers, Kaido's especially devious. "Oh, I'm gonna enjoy this."

"I'm not!" I shouted at them, but they just ignored me. Rento ran out of the room, and when he came back in, he had a pen and paper in hand, already writing down the torturous words he would force me to say. Kaido, Shusui and Unkia rushed up to him, all of them eager to get in on the fun of playing with dear younger brother's feelings. "You're all cruel, just flat out jerks."

"Nah, we're not jerks, Kukai," Unkai said over his shoulder.

"Yeah, we're just doing this because we love you," Shusui added on.

"And we want to know how much _you _love _Amu_. If you can't handle doing something as little as this, then you don't love her enough to marry her," Kaido said finally. When I heard him, I went rigid. He was right. If I cared more about my pride than Amu, then I wasn't fit to be her husband. Realizing this, I redialed her number with new found determination. About a minute or two later, my brothers handed me the sheet of paper and I pressed the 'talk' button.

After a couple of rings, Amu picked up. "_Hello?_" I gulped at the sound of her voice. _Here goes nothing_ I thought to myself.

"Yo, Amu… how're things going at your parents' house?" I looked at Kaido and who was pointing at the paper in my hand. He wanted me to get right to it, didn't he? Ah, love or not, this was embarrassing!

"_They're going fine, I guess. What's up?_" I would ask her about that 'I guess' later on. For now, I had to start talking before my brothers killed me out of impatience.

"Um… nothing much. I just called to tell you something…" I looked down at the sheet of paper and took in a deep, _deep _breath. "Amu… _dearest_- I just wanted you to know how much I truly… adore you." I think I nearly died just saying that one line.

"_Are… are you okay, Kukai? You're saying some weird stuff_." She had no idea.

Sadly, my next line corresponded practically perfectly with her question, and this would only serve to make me look more ridiculous and embarrass me even further. "Yeah, I'm perfectly fine… Honey…Bumpkin… It's just- my _burning _love for you makes me say and do some crazy-" not to mention _STUPID_ "-things sometimes. You are my… other half. You're the Mac… to my cheese," _Why not just make me say- oh, there it is. _"The… peanut butter to my jelly. I couldn't stand life without you." I was able to say that last line honestly, because it was true. If Amu was gone, I don't know what I'd do.

Amu giggled awkwardly. "_Kukai,_ _did Akimaru put you on steroids or something? 'Cause if he did, I think they're affecting your brain._"

"Um… no, I'm not on steroids… Schnukums…" My brothers couldn't hear the other end of the conversation we were holding, but they could pull enough from it to understand what was going on. They found my response to Amu's question absolutely _hilarious_ and each had a very hard time holding back their laughter. Don't understand why they were trying to. Maybe because they wanted to be able to hear what humiliating thing I was going to stay next?

"_Uuuuh, then I'm not quite sure what's going on, but I'm guessing it has something to do with your brothers?_"

Oh. My. God. _How did she guess that? _I loved this woman, I really did. Only she- aside from my parents- would be able to conclude that based on the situation. "How-? …Wow. You really do get me, Amu."

The line was silent for a couple of seconds before she spoke again. "_Was that another thing you're brothers made you say, or is this one real?_"

I laughed, and my brothers all gave me questioning looks, considering it wasn't one of those awkward laughs out of embarrassment. "No, that one was all me. It's like I said: 'My burning love for you makes me say and do some crazy things.'" I put sarcastic emphasis on the repeated line my brothers had made me say. Amu could tell I was joking around, and started to giggle uncontrollably. I laughed a little bit along with her. But I only got to laugh for a few good seconds, because with the next words uttered, I was frozen still.

"_That's right Souma, keep on laughing. 'Cause that's what Rima and I will be doing for the next ten years whenever we think about what you just said._" The horribly familiar sound of Utau's voice and the mentioning of Rima's name were enough to make me drop the phone- so I did.

"Kukai-! What are you doing?" Kaido yelled from his spot on the couch. "Pick the phone up!"

In a state of slowed shock, I bent down and picked up my cell at a snail's pace. When it was finally in my hands again, I held it up to my ear only to hear Amu's frantic, but slightly amused, '_Hello? Hello?_' and Utau and Rima's wretched laughing. I swear they sounded like dying hyenas.

"_Kukai, are you there?_" Amu asked, a giggle or two peaking their way through her words. The fact that even _she _was laughing was almost too much to bare.

"Y-yeah, I'm still here… I just can't- when did they… H-how did they-?" None of my sentences completed themselves. I was too stunned and… and just _horrified _to speak correctly. I started pacing, wondering _how in the heck _I was ever going to get out of this crap. Eventually I paced right over to a wall. For a second, I stared at it, still contemplating what to do.

"_Kukai?_" Amu called my name again, and it's her voice that drove me to do what happened next. Without even thinking, I slammed my head against the wall, my fist quick to follow. Repeatedly, I banged on the wall next to my right ear and the phone that was held up to it. "_Whoa, what are you doing?_" Amu yelled as I kept banging.

"_I think he's lost his mind_," Utau muttered into the phone.

"_Now _this _is true comedy. That's probably the hardest I've laughed all year_," Rima spoke for the first time since Amu had picked up the phone. I hit the wall a little harder. It was nearly _impossible _to make Rima laugh. Hearing that this was the funniest thing she had experienced all year, only made me realize this was much more embarrassing than I originally thought it would be. I groaned loudly and stopped pounding on the wall.

Turning around so that my back faced its not-so-smooth-anymore surface, I leaned against said wall and slid down it till my butt hit the floor. I brought my hand up to my face and placed it over my eyes, slowly dragging it downwards till it reached the junction of my chin and neck.

"Hey, Amu? I… gotta go… See ya later?" I asked Amu solemnly.

"_Go? Why? –er…_" That was possibly the stupidest question she could've asked at that moment. But seeing as this was Amu and she was my fiancé, I forgave her. Plus, she did seem to realize her mistake. I glanced over at my brothers. Rento and Shusui looked thoroughly amused, while Unkai seemed a little bit confused and Kaido just looked down right annoyed.

"Because if I don't go now, I think each one of my brother's might strangle me for a different reason. Bye." I didn't give her a chance to protest a second time. I didn't wanna leave any room for further humiliation.

"_Okay, see ya_," she replied.

"_B-ye, Souma_," Utau said with a cutesy accent that really just made her voice sound creepier than normal. I shivered.

"_Bye_," Rima was the last to speak before I clicked the 'end' button and disconnected from what was possibly the worst conversation I've ever had over the phone in my life. The one I had with Tadase and the blonde she-demon a couple weeks ago wasn't even this bad…

I stood up from my spot against the wall and walked over to the couch where all my brothers sat. "Weeeelll… I know at least two of you are planning choke the truth out of me, soo…" Before finishing my sentence, I made a break for the stairs. Not even a split second later were the other four Souma boys up and chasing after me, thundering up the steps like a heard of wild buffalo on a stampeding rampage.

"KUKAI, GET BACK HERE!" Rento yelled from the back of the pack. I glanced over my shoulder to look at them, but wish I hadn't. They looked blood thirsty and vicious.

"_Heck _no!" I yelled back to him and the rest. When I reached the top of the stairs, I banked left and made for my old bedroom. Yanking the door open, I rushed inside and slammed it back behind me, locking it in the process. Just in time too. My brothers crashed against the door right as it closed. I pressed all my weight on it, trying to keep it from budging. Though I knew it was pointless. One measly locked door couldn't keep out all of my older brothers for long. Eventually, they would get through, and when they did, I'd be a dead man.

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

'_Souma Kukai 425-7597: disconnected'_ was displayed on the screen of Amu's phone for a few seconds after Kukai hung up before disappearing. "…Great. Thanks to you guys, I probably just lost my fiancé!" she yelled into her phone at Rima and Utau who were still on the line.

"_It's not our fault. We can't help it if he chooses to do stupid things before checking to see if he's sharing a line with more than one person. Really, he and his brothers are the ones to blame_," Utau said nonchalantly, and I rolled my eyes.

"_Yeah_," Rima agreed with her, which was, despite the circumstances, _really _unexpected.

"Whatever," I grumbled back at them. "You two are terrible."

"_We know we are_," they replied in unison.


	8. The Planner and The Venue

"So Kukai," I said to my fiancé, catching his attention and getting him to put down the wedding magazines I've been shoving in his face for weeks now. I knew he hated all the petty details about us getting married, like decorations and cake flavors, but I wanted him to enjoy our day just as much as me, and demanded he have some say in the planning.

Kukai looked away from the colorful pages of _Tokyo-Nuptials _and up at me. "So Amu," he throws back casually with that grin of his, probably just happy to get away from that magazine. I smiled back at him, thinking my news will make him grin twice that size considering they will bring less work for him.

"I think I've finally found a wedding planner," I replied, but he just stared at me blankly for a few seconds. After seeing that I had nothing more to say, Kukai stared to swirl his hand in a 'tell-me-more' gesture.

"And this means…" he says, still gesturing, and I roll my eyes at him.

"It _means _you won't have to come home to a stack of wedding magazines every day because she'll be doing most of the planning work for you now." I let that soak in for a bit and was thoroughly satisfied with the reaction I got from him. As predicted, he smiled and even bigger smile than before. Getting up from his seat at the kitchen table, he goes to grab the landline. When he brings it back over, he gives me an expectant look.

"Well, what are we doing just sitting around? What's her name, where do we find her and how soon can we put her to work?" Kukai asked a little too excitedly. I swear, the man was a Starburst in soccer player's clothing, always contradicting himself. He was possibly the most active person I had ever met, and yet the laziest one too.

I rolled my eyes at him but smiled as I replied. "Her name is Yuiki Yaya. Her main office is right in the area, so we won't have to go far to plan. Plus, I hear she's _amazing_." I looked back at Kukai, whose pleased expression had been exchanged for a thoughtful one. "What're you thinking?"

He glanced up at me. "So far, this all seems pretty good. It's just… how much, exactly, is hiring this Yuiki woman gonna cost?"

I gave him a disbelieving look. "Really? You're asking me how much this is gonna cost? About two seconds ago you were all for hiring her on the spot, Kukai." He just shrugged.

"I got ahead of myself." I rolled my eyes. _I'm marrying a Starburst…_

Moving closer to the table, I picked up the Magazine that held Yuiki Yaya's add. For a few seconds, I scanned it until I came across a general price. "Well, in reality, it all depends on your budget for the wedding. But here base price is actually pretty decent, compared to some of the other planners out there," I told him. Kukai appeared to mull this over in his head for a few seconds, before sighing.

"I guess it's ok," he finally said. "I mean, if you like her, and her price isn't absolutely ridiculous, I don't see a problem with hiring the woman."

I smiled at him. Good. That crossed one thing off our list of things to do for the wedding. Now we only had about half a million more to go. Sighing, I looked up at Kukai and held my arms out, reaching for a hug. He just chuckled and wrapped his arms around me in response. As I snuggled into him, I asked "So I can call her up and set up a meeting then?" Again, he chuckled.

"Sure."

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Yuiki Yaya's shop was the perfect embodiment of the word 'cute'. Located on the outskirts of town, the small, European style cottage was clad in bright, sweet, pastel colored flowers; from the pathway leading up to the front door, to the boxes under the windows. Inside, the rooms were similarly decorated. The walls had been painted a soft pink, with white accents all around, and there were pots of flowers everywhere.

When Kukai and I reached her front desk, he tapped on the pink metal bell that sat atop its dark oak surface. We waited for a few seconds, but no one came out to greet us. Again, Kukai rang the bell. Again, no one.

Growing impatient, my boyfriend tapped the bell several times in a row, letting its sound ring out throughout the shop. Suddenly, someone burst through the door behind the desk, slamming there hand down on top of Kukai's, who practically fell backwards in surprise. "Alright, _alright_ already! I heard you the first 20 times!"

I looked from the small, dainty hand covering Kukai's, to the face of its owner; Yuiki Yaya. She was a woman of petite stature, with warmly tanned skin and coppery hair. Her caramely colored eyes had an annoyed flare in them as she glared back at Kukai. I chuckled nervously a few times before trying to get Yuiki-san's attention off of him and on me by introducing myself. "Um, hi. My name's Hinamori Amu and this is my fiancé, Kukai Souma. We have an appointment?"

The woman turned her glare from Kukai, to me, and her gaze instantly softened and perked up upon seeing me. "Amu-chi! It's so great to finally meet you," She said ecstatically, reaching over the front desk and grabbing my right hand in order to shake it. "Come on! Follow me to the back where we can sit down and talk." Kukai and I, him a bit reluctantly, followed her through the door she had burst in through before greeting us. Yuiki-san seemed to have completely forgotten the bell incident.

The back room was a lot like the front, but the pinks were a warmer, darker tone, and the accents were oak, instead of white. The desk we sat down at was made of the same material as the accents. When Yuiki-san plopped down into her swivel chair on the other side, she opened a drawer and pulled out a pen, a notepad, and several manila folders filled to the brim with papers.

"Okay, first things first," She said, placing the items down on the table and folding her hands, "The date. Did you have any specific days in mind?" I looked at Kukai, and he just nodded, confirming what we had discussed maybe once or twice before.

"The actual date depends on what you have available, and what venue we decide on," I said to her, thinking of how these things all come into play, "but sometime in the early fall would be nice." I watched Yuiki-san as she flipped open the notepad, clicked the pen and started scribbling down notes. Despite how excited I was, the whole thing seemed a bit… awkward. "…Um, Yuiki-san-"

Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of writing and her pen veered off the paper, leaving and ugly blue ink mark in its wake.

"No, no, no!" she pounded her fist on the desk with each 'no'. "If I'm going to be your wedding planner, you're going to have to be more acquainted than that, Amu-chi." Her frown turned into a smile. "Call me Yaya!"

Slightly shocked by her outburst, I stutter in my next statement. "Y-Yaya… I just wanted to say that I'm looking forward to working with you, and I hope you can help us to create the best wedding ever," I said to her with an awkward smile. She just beamed back at me before turning to Kukai, who had yet to say a word since walking in the front door. Not-so-subtly, I jabbed him in the ribs with my elbow.

He shot me a look before muttering, "Uh, yeah. We look forward to working with you." _Yaya_ smiled even brighter and gave an eager nod at receiving both of our approvals. I swear, this woman had mentality of a 9-year-old. Which honestly, could be the reason why she was so successful as a planner.

"Great! Then our feelings are mutual. It always makes me happy to see a happy couple undergo a successful marriage, and to know that I was a part of making it happen!" She smiled at us some more, back, a little more truthfully this time. And after opening a few of those manila folders, we got back to business. "Now," Yaya said, "how 'bout we choose a venue?"

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

Kukai and I pulled up to the driveway of our destination. Before parking, we rolled down the window to get a better look of the place. For the past month and a half, we've been driving around to various locations, all possible options for our wedding venue. This place -a large, spacious European ranch- was nearing the end of our list, and we were starting to worry whether or not we would find an appropriate venue.

We stepped out of the Audi and walked up the extensive driveway to where Yaya, who arrived separately, was waiting. After some quick hellos were exchanged, we all walked into the ranch. Upon entering, we were greeted by quite the sight.

"Welcome," Yaya said, throwing her arms out and spinning around in gesture of the room's grandeur, "to Archwester Manor; previous summer home to the family of European politicians and entrepreneurs, the Archwesters." The foyer alone was stunning, all dark hardwood and deep greens and glass windows. The rich colors and glass gave the room an open feel, making it very inviting. This place was just…dang.

"Dang," Kukai voiced my thoughts. "If this is just the foyer, what's the rest of the place like?" I looked from him to Yaya, just in time to see her smirk at our expressions. I've come to know this woman quite well in the time that we've spent with her. In general, she's energetic, flamboyant and sweet, but when she does something right, she's not afraid to brag, be it verbally or not.

"Why don't we just have a look see," she said in response, ushering us to follow her. Though, I was a bit torn between wanting to stay here and stare at the foyer, or to go and see just what else this house had to offer. "Come on, I'll show you where we'll hold the reception." At these new words, all thoughts of the foyer flew from my mind and I was behind Yaya in an instant.

We went down an extensive hallway, decorated with various painting, both European and Japanese, which I thought was a nice touch. The three of us came to a stop at a set of large, ornate double doors. Taking a hand to each, Yaya proceeded to push them open, and what lay behind them blew me away.

"This is the ballroom," she said, as we stepped into the amazing place. I swear I felt my eyes growing larger with each passing second, just trying to take the whole room in. It was _huge_! The dark hardwood floors had continued on from the foyer and into the ballroom, so finely polished that they reflected back the scene above them. I looked up to see what exactly they were displaying, and my mouth hit the floor. Again.

The ceiling was domed, and made _entirely_ out of glass! It let in so much light, illuminating the room with golden warmth. I could only imagine the starry view it would provide on the night of our wedding day. I looked around the rest of the room. There were even more windows lining the walls of this circular room, not quite floor-to-ceiling, but pretty tall. In between each one, there was a line of carved wooden molding, separating solid orange paint from classical and elegantly patterned wallpaper (It was a nice, welcoming sunset orange, nothing extremely bright).

Off to the side of the room, long tables and chairs were sitting, covered up by protective sheets. I walked over and lifted one up. Setting my hand down the smooth, dark surface of one of the tables, I turned to look at Kukai and Yaya, who were staring back at me. "It's perfect," I muttered quietly.

"I… think we're done looking," Kukai said distractedly to our wedding planner, who smiled with satisfaction.

"Splendid!" she squealed excitedly, clapping her hands together. I didn't even think words like 'splendid' were in her vocabulary. "So it's settled then? The Archwester Manor will be your venue?" Kukai and I both nod in response. "Would you like to see where the ceremony will take place?"

I practically run the woman over in my hurry to see this new place. "YES!" I scream at her excitedly. Once we had seen the reception room, thoughts of the ceremony had almost all but left my mind. Yaya put her hands up in an attempt to fend me off.

"Alright, alright! Follow me," she said with a bit of a giggle. Instead of walking back towards the hallway like I had expected her to, she turned and made her way to the other end of the room. She pulled out a key and unlocked a glass door that I had previously thought was one of the windows. My hand snapped out and latched onto Kukai's arm. Dragging him behind me- in a manner not unlike he sometimes does to me- I raced over to the door.

We stepped onto a neatly groomed lawn, decorated with rows of bushes; flower bushes. The buds hadn't yet begun to bloom, but the air was already slightly tinted with the scent of roses. At the end of the rows, the lawn came to an abrupt stop, a sparkling clean lake lined with large, beautiful trees taking its place.

"I saw the greenspace from the windows of the ballroom, but I hadn't realized that it was such a beautiful garden from there!" I said, turning to face Yaya. "What kind of trees are those?" I asked her.

She smiled, almost nostalgically. "Sakura," she said. Kukai looked at me, smiling too. _This place is just _too _perfect, _I thought. Still holding his hand, I pulled Kukai to the end of the rows of bushes, not so forcefully this time, before running back to end of the aisle myself. I turned towards him and the lake, and began slowly making my way to them. When I reached the end of the aisle, I stopped in front of Kukai and took his hands in my own. In turn, he leaned his forehead on mine.

"So this is it?" He asked, still smiling. I smiled back at him and nodded, before kissing him lightly on the lips.

"Yeah. This is it."

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

_Let me take this moment to say thanks to all of you readers. I'm really glad that you like my story, and I'm _so so so sorry_ that it took me this long to update! I've been really busy lately, and will to continue to be, so updates won't come nearly as frequent as they once had. High School, ya know? Takes up your entire life._

_I also want to use this brief message to write a quick disclaimer. I forgot to do that in my last few chapters. I do not own _Shugo Chara!_, it's characters, or _Lemonade Mouth_ (chapters three and five reference). No one sue me._

_I'll try to get the next chapter up ASAP, but for now, bear with me guys! 3_


	9. The Cake and The Flowers

_***hiding behind a brick wall* Hey guys, I'm back! :D *looks around cautiously* Did you miss me?**_

_**Eh-hem. Sorry for the long, long, long, **_**long**_** wait. I honestly didn't mean for the space between updates to go for- what has a been now, a year? I know, that's so horrible of me, and again, I'm sorry. I hope this chapter makes up for it! And I **_**will**_** try to update more often. I'm determined to see this story through to its end! So enjoy!**_

I reached the corner of Yamamoto and Sakura, and turned right. Glancing back down at the crumpled sheet of paper I had already looked at fifty times in the course of my drive, I read the address of the bakery one last time. If I couldn't find it in the next _five_ minutes, I was going to scream.

'_It's this adorable pastel plaster building with white awnings, you can't miss it,'_ she had said.

"Pft- can't miss it; can't miss it my butt…" I muttered to myself, annoyed. I made one last turn onto Kasuki lane, and _finally_ spotted the building from Amu's description. Pulling the car to a stop at the curb, I parked in the street and got out. The door shut loudly behind me, and I made my way to the bakery's entrance.

First thing I was gonna do when I walked into that bakery: state a well thought-out complaint to Amu about how horrible she was at giving directions. I pushed the door open and a little bell sounded over my head. I spotted Amu as she heard it and turned to face me, a winning smile on her face.

First thing I _did _do when I walked into that bakery: smiled right back at her and gave her a hug when she ran to greet me. Yup, I think I made my point.

"Kukai! I'm so glad you finally made it!" Amu said, and I cringed inwardly as she did. "Come on, our tasting's about to start!" She grabbed my arm and pulled me over to a booth where a burly man was sitting. At first glance, he looked pretty intimidating; but as I got closer I noticed his warm smile and the jolly vibe he gave off. Like Santa Claus, or Manny the wooly mammoth.

When we finally came to the table, Amu introduced us. "Kukai, this is Stewart-san. Yaya suggested him to me the last time we had a meeting, and he's going to be making our wedding cake." I looked from her, to Stewart-san and bowed.

"It's nice to meet you, Stewart-san," I said. When I stood back up, he held his hand out. I looked at it for a moment.

"Ah, sorry," he said with an accent. "American traditions; I'm from California, over in the U.S." He was about to pull his hand away, but I grasped it and gave a hearty shake, finally recognizing its meaning. He looked at our hands, and then back at me smiling. "Oh, I like you. You've got heart, Mr. Souma. I'll be happy to make a cake for your wedding."

I gladly smiled back, and all three of us moved to sit down at the booth. Amu was grinning profusely, probably excited that the meeting had started off so well. Stewart-san pulled out a pad of paper, a few colored pencils and some sort of pamphlet. He set them all down on the table. "So, let's start with flavors. What all do you like?"

Amu answered immediately with a question of her own. "What types of chocolate cakes do you have?" she looked ecstatic, like a kid in a candy shop. I guess, in a way, she kinda was. Stewart-san rubbed his chin.

"We have a few different types of chocolate cakes; standard, german chocolate, chocolate spice cake, chocolate rum…" He paused as if trying to think of more, like he had forgotten something. "Oh, and then there's our newest cake, a sort of chocolate carrot cake. We haven't put it up for sale yet, but if you'd like, I could let you two be the first to try it." He said this with a happy edge to his voice, like this was a one-time deal he was reserving just for us. I looked at him and he winked at me.

Next to me, Amu was all but exploding in her seat. "You would let us do that? Really?" she asked, barely containing her excitement. Stewart-san nodded. Amu's chin tilted down slowly; like she was trying to nod too, but her joy was getting in the way. Slowly, she tilted it back up. The process repeated, getting faster and faster until she was shaking her head up and down so fast, her features blurred. "Yes! Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely, positively _yes_!"

Stewart-san laughed at her reaction. "Alright, alright. I'll be right back with the sample." He got up and walked through a door behind the store's counter. While he was in back, Amu turned to talk to me.

"This is so cool! We get to be the first to try this cake! It'll be amazing if we actually have it for our wedding!" She jittered in her seat for a couple of seconds before throwing her arms around my neck and hugging me tightly. "Our wedding is going to be the best!"

After I got over my shock at the sudden contact, I wrapped my arms around her back and patted it lightly, smiling at her elation over it all. "I'm glad that you're happy, Amu." She pulled away and kissed me on the cheek. Then Stewart-san walked back into the room and she was jumping up and down all over again. He was carrying two small plates, each with a slice of light brown cake on them, two forks, and a little container. The forks and plates he set down in front of Amu and me. He popped the lid off of the container before setting it down too.

"Go ahead and try it. I want to know what you think." I picked up my fork and sliced a chunk of the cake off. When I took the bite, I was pleasantly surprised with the flavor. There was chocolate, of course, but surprisingly, less carrot flavor than I thought there would be. I've never tried carrot cake before, because I always thought it'd be too… carrot-y. But this was nice. There was only a subtle carrot flavor, like an undertone to the cinnamon, chocolate and spices.

"It's good," I said, taking another bite, "really good. I'm not usually one for carrot cake, but this is amazing. Amu, what do you think about it?" I looked over at my fiancé to gage her reaction, only to slap a hand over my mouth to prevent from bursting out into laughter and spewing cake everywhere.

Her plate was _empty_, completely bare of any crumb or speck that might have hinted at the fact that there was ever a slice of cake there. Her fork tilted precariously in her open palm, as if she were too distracted to hold onto it. And the look on Amu's face, boy was it _priceless_. Her golden eyes were glazed over and her lips curled up into a dreamy smile, chewing over the last bit of cake. She looked like a happy little kid; or maybe a puppy, one that had just been thrown a bone the size of Tokyo Tower.

"I'll take that as a sign that you like it then," I said after recovering from nearly choking on cake and laughter. I turned to Stewart-san. "She seems a little incapable of speech right now, so I'm just gonna take a wild guess and say that that's our flavor."

The burly man chuckled and handed me the container he had brought out with him. "Here, you can take the leftovers home if you'd like." He surveyed Amu's plate. "Although, I guess you won't be needing such a big box anymore…" Amu, to her credit, finally snapped out of her cake-induced lull, and turned a faint shade of pink at his comment. Stewart-san and I both laughed at this. I patted Amu lightly on the shoulder and shrugged.

"Nah, this is fine. And thanks." I slid what was left of my slice into the contained and closed it. As I did this, Amu began to converse again.

"So, now that we've decided on the flavor, I guess we should go over decorations?" The baker nodded at her inquiry and grabbed for his pad of paper and pencils.

"If you give me some details, I can sketch a few ideas out right here. What kind of design were you two going for?"

I looked to Amu, letting her know that it was all up to her, and that she could essentially ask for whatever she wanted. I'd pretty much go along with anything so long as she was happy with it. She smiled at me and nodded before turning back to Stewart-san.

"I think we want to go for something a little more traditional," she started, spreading her hands across the table as she talked. "You know, fondant and white with tiers. But maybe with a little something special added in."

Stewart nodded. "Tiers… round or square?"

Amu thought for a moment. "Square."

The baker began scribbling on his pad. "You said white," he said, "but do you mean pure, or ivory? Or do you want something more along the lines of off-white? And we could also add in colored accents, if that piques your interest at all."

Taking in the full realization of all the options and possibilities she had, Amu looked at a loss for words. She glanced at me helplessly, as if thinking maybe it wasn't the best idea to leave everything in her hands. "Kukai…" she said in a bit of a complaining tone. I just sighed, but gave her a small smile nonetheless.

Closing my eyes for a second, I thought. _What would suit Amu best? What would be good enough for her?_ I thought of her kindness and warmth, represented by the flavor of the cake, and her bright smile, always shining and ready to lift my spirits. "White, pure white, and…" I thought of her eyes, and the light they held, how reflective they were, and, "gold."

I opened my eyes and looked at Amu again, who was smiling, and then at Stewart-san, who was already doodling away on his pad of paper. He tilted his head up to glance at me as he drew. "There's a technique I could use, called quilting. Often times, bakers put colored edible pearls at the intersections of the pattern. Would you mind using that?"

Amu nodded enthusiastically before I could even get a word out edgewise. It seemed as if she finally knew what she wanted. "Could we add in some of those drooping ribbons," she said, pointing to a cake in the display case at the front of the shop, "and make those gold too?" Stewart nodded again as he changed his design to fit that of hers. Amu looked at me. "And flowers… soft little lilies, before they gain all of their color. Green."

My fiancé had taken on another dreamy look, but this one seemed less… silly. More focused, in a way, but still in a bit of a daze as she continued to look at me. I grabbed Amu's hand and she smiled, slowly coming out of her second lull of the morning. Just in time for Stewart-san to finish sketching.

"What do you think?" he said with his accent, turning the drawing pad to face us. I lifted it up with my other hand to get a better look, holding it out so Amu could see too.

The cake had five square layers, each smaller than the one before it. The quilting pattern mentioned before covered the whole cake, and little gold dots sat at each intersection. I guess those were supposed to be the pearls. The 'drooping ribbons' Amu had mentioned, fell in an interesting way across the tiers of the cake, connecting them in a way, without looking sloppy. And the last touch, the small green lilies, was added in at random points, clustering in the corners and spreading out tastefully. I followed the spread of flowers to the top of the cake, where my gaze stopped. Sitting on the smallest top layer nestled in a bunch of those gold pearls, were two lilies, significantly larger than the rest.

I brushed my thumb over that part of the drawing, staring at it for awhile. This was undoubtedly my favorite part of the design. I turned to face Stewart-san, smiling slightly. "It looks good. You did a nice job, man."

The baker looked like he was about to reply, but Amu's squealing abruptly cut him off. "I love it! It's _fantastic_!" She faced me. "Kukai, isn't this so great? I think we have our cake!"

I smiled at her. "Yeah," I said, more to Stewart-san than anyone else, "I'd say we do."

.:.:.:.:.:.:.:.

After we left the bakery, I was surprised to find that I still had some of my manhood left.

That was before we went to flower shop.

It was like someone had taken Yaya's office, Stewart-san's bakery and Princess Peach's castle and molded them all into one big, pink, _feminine_ monstrosity. _That_ was the flower shop Amu was currently trying to drag me into. At that point, the only manly thought I could manage to conjure up was _run_.

Sad, right?

"Kukai, why are you fighting this so much?" Amu complained as she tugged forcefully at my arm. I rolled my eyes and leaned farther back, trying desperately to get away.

"Gee, I don't know," I said sarcastically. _Maybe it's because it's pink. Why does everything always have to be pink? I mean, I _like_ pink, but this is just ridiculous…_ "Why do I even have to go? Can't you pick the flowers out by yourself?"

Amu huffed, but continued to pull at my arm. "Kukai, I want you to be a part of the planning. I don't wanna be the crazy Bridezilla who does everything her way, by herself! Now come _on_!" And with one final tug, she managed to pull me through the doors of doom and into my flowery death.

The inside of the store was so pastel, neon would've hurt my eyes less. I put my hand over my eyes, covering them to ward off the oncoming migraine. I could feel it creeping up on me with the help of the rainbow that had exploded on the walls.

Amu continued to drag me, right up to the front desk of the store, and I watched the back of her head as she did. Her hair seemed to blend into and clash with the colors of the store all at the same time. The effect of it all was starting to make me dizzy.

We stopped at the desk and waited for a few moments, not even bothering to touch the bell after the incident at Yaya's. When a man came out of the door behind the receptionist table, I wasn't sure whether to be pleasantly surprised or mildly horrified. I strangled back a hysterical laugh, coughing behind my hand to cover it up.

The man, who had auburn hair and glasses and wore a beige suit, was about to say something when I cut him off. "Excuse me, um, do you- do you actually, you know- _work… here_? Please tell me you don't work here." I was having a hard time comprehending how any man could work here.

Glasses guy looked taken aback, and again seemed like he wanted to say something, but Amu cut him off this time. "Kukai! That was rude," she gave the man an apologetic look. "I'm sorry for my fiancé's behavior. I don't think he always realizes that stupidity is an unattractive trait."

"Hey!" I yelled indignantly. "What's that supposed to mean?" Amu shook her head with a smile.

"I rest my case."

Before I could make a retort, this time the man cut me off. He was laughing, taking his glasses off to wipe at his eyes and clean the lenses with a cloth he pulled from his suit pocket. "Ah, I'm sorry…" he got out between chuckles. "To answer your question, yes, I do work here. My name is Nekaidou, and I'll be helping you pick out your flower arrangements today."

He stepped from behind the desk and ushered the two of us over to a small sitting table in the corner of the room. Once again, Amu latched onto my arm and pulled me with her, and I just groaned in defeat. This was going to be one long appointment, and I was permanently strapped in for the ride.

We sat down at the little table, and Nekaidou turned to pull several books and catalogs from a shelf against the wall behind him. "I have a few articles I would like you to take a look at," he said, flipping some of the books open on the table, "but I want to ask you a few questions first. How far along are you with the rest of the planning?"

At the start of his little questionnaire, I just leaned back in my seat and let Amu take the lead. "Well, we already have a wedding planner," she said, going into slight detail about Yaya and how she's helped us so far. "As of right now, we have a venue, the cake, and a color scheme more or less planned out." Now Nekaidou sat back in his chair, tapping the pen he held to his chin in thought.

"What are the colors you've chosen?" he asked. Amu turned to shuffle through her purse, pulling out two slips of paper, like paint samplers. One was a shimmery gold, and the other was a soft pea green. She slid the samplers across the table so Nekaidou could take a better look.

"We're going with gold and green," Amu said, "to compliment some of our natural… attributes." She spoke the last word in an interesting tone, as if she were testing Nekaidou and his ability to figure out its significance. By 'attributes', I knew she was referring to our eyes, the same things we based the colors for our cake off of. I guess she wanted to see how good he was at his own job; at connecting colors to flowers, and flowers to people.

Hearing the challenge in Amu's voice, Nekaidou looked up. He seemed to scan us both for a moment, taking in all of our features and details. It was a little bit… creepy. And then he stopped, seeming to finally focus on our eyes. Nekaidou smiled widely, and somehow, that just made the whole thing that much creepier.

"It's a nice color combination," the florist said in a light, happy tone. "One that I agree suits the two of you." Amu nodded; seemingly satisfied that he had passed her little test. Nekaidou smiled a little wider and tilted his head to the side slightly, as if accepting victory. I swear, it was like they were communicating through some odd connection they shared. And I wanted absolutely _no _part of it, whatsoever.

"O-kay then," I cut in, trying to break the awkward silence. "Flowers. Arrangements. Bouquets and girly stuff. Let's move on, shall we?" Amu blinked at me for a minute before laughing.

"I guess you're right Kukai," she said. She took one of the catalogues from the stack that Nekaidou had pulled and began flipping through it. I only got a glance at each page, but the amount of flowers they contained was overwhelming. Kinda like this store. "Nekaidou-san, do you carry green lilies?"

The man nodded. He picked up one specific book, and handed it to Amu. "That book contains a list of all the flowers we carry, their types, and what colors you can order them in," he said. Amu set aside the other catalogue and began looking through this one. After searching the index, she skipped to a section titled 'Lilies', and began scouring its contents. She came to a stop at one page and pointed her finger at a smaller picture.

"You _do _have green lilies," she said slowly, "but not the kind we're looking for…" Amu frowned, and I leaned over to take a better look at the picture. These flowers were green alright; bright, dyed, neon green. _Not _what we were looking for. Having already seen enough blinding colors for the day, I looked away from the picture to some of the ones next to it. One in particular caught my interest.

"What about these," I said, pointing to a group of tropical pink lilies. They looked like the same kind of flower, but were much more natural than the neon disasters next to them. "They have green centers, if that counts for anything. And they match your hair, Amu." I glanced at another group of pictures on the page. "Plus, we could put them with some other flowers, like these ones." The new flowers were also lilies, but much smaller, and without the green center. They were a golden-orange color, which I think matched our scheme well enough.

Amu contemplated the idea for a moment, like she was trying to imagine how it would all come together. Suddenly, her face lit up. "And we could mix them with some of those small white flowers! You know, the ones that overhang slightly? Oh, and what if we threw some gold beads in, for the bouquet and all? That would look so _amazing_!"

I gave my fiancé a stunned look, but laughed all the same. "Wow, leave it to you Amu to take my amateur idea and blow it up into something 'amazing.'" I leaned back in my chair, relaxing a bit. _Maybe this flower stuff isn't so bad after all, _I thought with a smile. I glanced over at Nekaidou, who was looking back at me with a bemused sort of expression.

"I'm impressed, Souma-kun," he said, closing one of the catalogues. "You threw that together with quite the bit of expertise. Certainly not something I would consider amateur." He gave me a smile, which could've easily been one of the evilest things I've ever seen. "Have you ever considered becoming a florist?"

Abruptly, I stood up. Not even bothering to look at Amu, I bowed and left the store.

_I take it back. This is quite possibly the worst thing I've ever experienced, ever._


End file.
